"CAL!" Shry called out to a kid around his age
The kid Shry was calling for had wavy, sand-like beige-colored hair and warm amber eyes. Shry called him by his nickname to make sure he knew that it was him or at least one of his friends was calling.
Cal's full name is Callon Vultic, but because they're close friends, they call him Cal for simplicity's sake and also as a symbol of their friendship.
Through all this noise, it was unclear if Callon had heard Shry or not. But whether he heard him or not, it didn't matter to Shry, because either way, Callon will find out about his presence soon. Either by acknowledging Shry's call or getting tackled unsuspectingly.
Seconds away from giving his friend his impactful greeting, Shry realized Cal's back was getting closer to him quicker than expected.
(Oh shoot!) Shry realized what was happening and tried his best to slow down.
Before, Callon barely heard Shry's voice, so he thought he had misheard it, but as soon as he heard the sound of running footsteps, he instantly knew who it was.
Deciding to mess with his friend, Callon deliberately ignored him, and right at the last second, he began stealthily walking backward to ruin Shry's plan.
*Paaa* Callon's back and Shry's head collided.
Colliding with Cal's back, Shry took most of the impact and fell backward roughly.
Because of Cal's decision to collide with Shry prematurely, Shry had to rethink his course of action, which caused him to slant slightly to the left, which succeeded in redirecting the energy so that it wouldn't hurt Callon, but as the consequence, he had to take the full brunt of his own impact.
*Ouch* Shry held his forehead with his left hand, slightly pulling his hair back.
"Are you okay?" Callon asked, concerned for Shry's well being
After witnessing Shry's rough fall, Callon felt bad for what he did, so to make up for it, Callon reached out his right hand for Shry to grab so he could pull him up.
"Ahhh... I think every bone in my body is broken!" Shry cried out dramatically with his hand facing up on his forehead.
Finished with the registration, Kanum and Shelt got back just i n time to watch this happen live before their eyes.
"Right....." Shelt looked at Kanum, slightly smug.
"I'm going to cry; how could you!" Kanum sniffles.
"Come on, let's go get the fruit from the car." Shelt ignored Kanum's whining and pointed at the parking lot with her thumb.
Before leaving, Kanum took one last glance at Shry and proudly proclaimed that that is his son internally.
"Ha ha, not really!" Shry revealed as he pushed himself up with both arms.
"Yeahhhh... get over here!"
Callon puts his hand around Shry's shoulder and leads him toward their other friends.
As they got closer to their volley of friends, neither of them made an effort to announce themselves as they slowly strode closer.
In front of Shry and Callon, there was a group of kids that looked about the same age as them, and closely behind all of them were their parents, if not guardians.
"Woah, the others had the same type of clothes we do!" Shry looked at their group of friends with surprise.
(Does he not know?) Callon thought
Callon looked at Shry strangely after his comment. He didn't know if Shry was just acting excitable over nothing like his usual self or if he actually didn't know.
Looking at the group in front of them, the contrast between the outfits the adults wore and the ones the kids wore was extremely jarring.
All the adults were wearing a collage of different styles of outfits with all kinds of colors that fit their personality. But on the other hand, the clothing the kids wore had no other colors other than white.
Although the color white was shared between all the kids there, the designs of their clothing vary from person to person.
Speaking of which, this wasn't the only group of kids that wore whiteout outfits. In fact, all the here kids that are around the same age as Shry all wore outfits with the same color.
"Hey, Shry!" A kid with greenish-yellow hair like tree leaves during the start of fall and bright, neon-like yellow eyes greeted them when he saw Shry and Callon approaching.
"Hey Sile! Hi everyone!" Shry responded in glee while waving at everyone.
After Shry's greeting, his other friends began to notice him as well. One by one, they stood up and came running at Shry to greet him. As more and more came, Shry's figure began to fade as more of his friends surrounded him.
"Do you guys know him?"
The remaining kids that stayed because they didn't know Shry looked between each other awkwardly.
After Shry's group of friends ran to greet him, the circle that all of them once formed before Shry and Callon got here became completely disfigured, with large gaps left behind.
"C'mon Shry! why were you so late?" Sile dragged Shry into their circle while the others followed.
"Yeah, where were you?" Callon sneakily jumped into their accusations despite being just as late himself.
"I dunno," Shry said half-heartedly as something else caught his attention.
While they were bombarding Shry with questions, his line of sight was directly trained on something else. He noticed that there was a familiar-looking board game behind his friends
The board game looked like snakes and ladders but there was something odd about it. Unlike the original, this one is significantly larger by about 8 times.
Noticing Shry's gaze, Callon looked toward the same direction as well, and as soon as he saw what it was, Callon immediately understood why Shry was so entranced by it.
Callon glanced at Shry one more time, and after seeing he Shry wouldn't be asking any questions any time soon, he took matters into his own hands.
"What were you guys doing before we got here?" Callon asked
"Oh! We were playing infinite heights, it's like a new version of Snakes and Ladders that's 8 times bigger with slightly different rules!" One of the kids who didn't surround Shry excitedly explained.
Hearing that, Shry's face grew immensely bright; he really wanted to play, but before he could go intruding into their game, Callon stopped him.
"Hey!... They're still playing; we should wait for our turn."
Callon gritted his teeth as he used all his strength to hold his friend back. He kept losing his grip, so every time he did, he had to take one step forward and quickly find another place to hold Shry. But luckily for Callon, Shry stopped fairly quickly after realizing he wasn't getting anywhere.
"Aren't you worried?" Sile asked, somewhat conflicted with his own feelings.
After seeing Shry and Callon being so carefree, Sile felt out of place. He could barely get a wink of sleep last night, because all he could think about are the outcomes of the numerous resonance path he could attain
Worried about what? Shry and Callon said, simultaneously
Understandably, Shry and Callon were a bit confused, but after some deliberation, it didn't take long for Callon to decipher what Sile meant by it.
"Oh!" Callon let out a peep as an indication that he understood Sile's question.
Following that, Callon looked into the sky, contemplating his answer; he wasn't sure if he was worried or not. He felt calm, but yet there's this itch in the back of his mind telling him otherwise.
Seeing that Callon was earnestly contemplating his answer, Sile was glad. He felt like he was the only one in their group that was constantly worried about today, but after seeing Callon, he felt relieved, like he wasn't the only one.
It was then he remembered that there was a second person he asked that question to. Quickly, Sile turned his sights towards Shry, assuming he understood his question as well.
Shry was just staring Callon, waiting for his answer but after noticing Sile's glance, Shry didn't even hesitate for a second before answering.
"Honestly, anything is fine! So I'm not worried at all!" Shry said with a triumphant look and hands on his hips
"Huh, really!? Even I was a little nervous, and what's with that 'anything is fine' schtick! You have to have a resonance path you're looking forward to... right?" A boy with long, spiky white hair and eyes as dark and bright as space joined their conversation and snickered at Shry's statement in a friendly way.
"Well... if I have to choose one... I guess I'll go with Earth?" Shry's eyes twitch as he hesitantly picked an element as his answer.
"I can't tell if you're being serious or not?! "Is that really what you want?" The white-haired boy slightly raised his voice.
"Tiy, you might want to tone it down a little." Sile narrowed his eyes at the white-haired boy, slightly annoyed by his tone of voice
"Hm? Is there a problem...?" Tiy tilted his head slightly in genuine confusion with a hint of hesitation and slight concern in his voice.
"Is there a problem?" Shry asked as well because he knew that was just how Tiy usually talks.
"He sho—" Sile was about to answer them, but he was interrupted halfway.
"What resonance path are you aiming for, Cal?" Without realizing that Sile was just about to answer him, Tiy moved the conversation forward.
Because Callon thought he wouldn't have to answer Sile's question anymore since their conversation had already moved on, he wasn't expecting Tiy to suddenly call him out.
Callon was shocked by the sudden question, but luckily for both of them, Callon already had an answer to that question long before he even got here.
"Oh me?! I want ice," Callon said confidently.
"Oooohhh, so you're challenging me." Tiy cheekily remarked and grinned.
Confused by Tiy's statement, Callon looked at him strangely, but that's when he realized there was a discrepancy with Tiy's clothing. Unlike the others, Tiy's clothing wasn't white anymore; instead, it was dyed red with two orange lines in patterns similar to fire all around it.
"Did you...!" Callon's mouth widened as he pointed at Tiy.
"Yup, an—" Tiy was about to brag, but before he could start, a girl with wavy, light burgundy blonde hair and sky blue eyes interjected.
"He went into the resonance hall first out of all of us here, and he refuses to tell us what happened there!" The burgundy-haired girl purposefully interrupted Tiy out of pettiness.
"Cydel is right; if you want to brag, then tell us what happened!" Sile backed up the burgundy-haired girl
Despite being ganged up on, Tiy didn't relent. He even closed his eyes and smirked.
"I don't want to spoil anything!" Tiy said slyly.
"C'mon, man, give us a clue!" Callon smirked and poked Tiy with his elbow.
While they were arguing, Shry ignored them and slipped away to the other kids to inquire about the board game.
"So... How different are the rules to the normal version of Snakes and Ladders?" Shry asked with sparkly eyes, excited about the new gimmick for this new version of Snakes and Ladders.
"Shouldn't you be more interested in what they're talking about?" The kid looked at Shry strangely and gestured toward Shry's group of friends.
"Hm? I am interested, but... I know no matter what we do, Tiy wouldn't tell us anything once he's made up his mind." Shry logically answered without looking at them.
Secretly, Shry actually just made it up. Even though there were some truths to it. Shry was more interested in the game, so he just made up some bogus answer to satisfy the other kid so he could find out the game works as soon as possible. Plus, he also wanted to make a good impression on a potential new friend.
As they were talking, a sudden gust of wind blew past them, getting all of their attention.
The wind wasn't normal, because as it brushed by everyone, they were able to clearly hear an announcement through the wind itself.
*Cydel Gardto, I repeat, Cydel Gardto, please make your way to the Resonance hall!*
Callon and Shry, who just arrived, were baffled by this phenomenon; they even thought it was their imagination at first, but after seeing their friends wish Cydel good luck, Shry and Callon had no choice but to accept that what they just heard was indeed real.
Not wanting to be left out, Callon and Shry quickly joined the crowd and wished Cydel good luck as well.
"Good luck, Cydel!" Both Shry and Callon said in a rushed tone.
"And remember to tell us what happens in the Resonance hall!" Callon added as Cydel began to depart, making her way toward the resonance hall.
After seeing Cydel's figure disappear into the crowd, Shry didn't instantly direct his attention back to the board game. Instead, he began to ask around about the wind phenomenon that happened.
"You guys seem to be used to the wind thing that called for Cydel; do any of you know what it is?!" Shry asked, mesmerized by the phenomena.
"Oh! We were surprised at first too, but all we know about it is that it carries the announcer's voice everywhere it blows." Sile answered, just as intrigued.
"Oh! I see... Anyway, when are you guys going to finish this game? We want to play too!" Shry said as he pointed at Callon, indicating that he was part of the we he mentioned.
Although Callon wasn't as eager, he couldn't deny that he was curious as well, so he just went along with it.
"Oh yeah! ... But we need Cydel." Tiy got excited about continuing their game, but then he remembered that they needed Cydel to continue it.
"Yeah, but Callon and Shry can just replace her until she comes back," Sile suggested.
Hearing this, Tiy was slightly opposed to it at first, but after a second thought, he knew Cydel wouldn't mind, so he shrugged his shoulders and sat with the others, ready to resume their game.
"Alright, here are the rules! Because this version has way more spots, the numbers on the dice are much larger. AND! We also get to choose between these 4 dice." Tiy said sharply as he showed off 4 different colored dice.
The first die was red and was shaped more like a coin than a traditional die; that's because it only has two sides, a high number and a low number, with high risk and high reward.
The second die is shaped like a three-sided pyramid and is colored yellow. Just like the first one, it also has fewer sides than the traditional 6-sided die, as it only has 4 sides.
Next, is the third die and unlike all the previous dice, it doesn't have some special gimmick. Instead, it acts as the mediator for all the other dice, and its color reflects that as well, with it being green.
Lastly, the fourth die is blue and has a whopping 10 sides, with each term increasing by two, starting from 1.
Since there aren't any other new rules, Callon and Shry were able to easily understand it. As the only new gimmick was the dice while the board was just scaled up.
After that, the game continued, with Callon and Shry working as a team to fill in for Cydel.
"C'mon....! Give us 20!" Shry held the two-sided die and flipped it high in the sky.
"C'mon, it's definitely it; I can feel it." Callon made a prediction as he watched anxiously.
The red die flew high, constantly flipping, and when it landed, it spun for a couple of seconds, raising the tension, and when it finally stopped, to everyone's relief except for Callon's and Shry's, the die landed on the opposite side, displaying the number 1.
*NOOOOOOOO!*
Both Shry and Callon cried out as they fell on their knees in despair. Callon banged on the glass while Shry looked empty.
"What happened?" While Callon and Shry were sinking into despair, a familiar burgundy-haired girl wandered behind them.
"Oh..." Cydel reacted neutrally as she realized what was going on.
"Well, since I'm back, can we forget about the last roll?" Cydel suggested calmly on the outside while on the inside she was practically begging for a redo.
(Come on, come on, please accept!) Cydel nervously thought
The other players looked at one another, some agreeing while some denied the proposal. After they were still unable to reach a consensus after 5 minutes, Sile stood up, took charge of the situation, and suggested a proposition.
"How about we vote?" Sile suggested
Some of the kids raised an eyebrow, but after discussing it for a moment, all of them agreed. After that, one by one, they raised their hands and voted until 5 votes were accumulated; 3 votes were for agree and 2 votes were for disagree.
With two entries left, the others looked at Sile and Tiy, feeling like they already knew what the results were going to
During this, Cydel could not help but sigh in relief, especially after seeing the votes. Her relief only lasted for a moment, though, because in the next, a surprising turn of events occurred.
"I disagree." Sile opposed, surprising everyone.
Since Sile and Cydel were pretty close friends, they all thought that he'd be on her side, but yet he confidently raised a vote opposing her, voiding their expectations. And now, with even votes, it was up to Tiy to decide.
"Urgh." Tiy's eyes twitched, conflicted about what to vote.
Tiy gave a surprising amount of thought to his answer, but in the end, through his own reasoning, his thoughts concluded.
"I agree." Tiy made the final judgment while looking at the ground, clearly still hesitant about his vote.
"Great!" Cydel celebrated
After that ordeal, Cydel smiled confidently and picked up the two-sided die without hesitation; she held it in her palm, squeezing it, and when it came time to decide her fate, she let out a determined cry.
"Alright then!"
Cydel clenched the coin in her right hand, and in the next moment, she pushed her arm upwards and pelted it into the sky.
Watching the die fly further and further up, one of the kids was just about to complain, thinking the die would be flung to nowhere; but then, the die landed precisely in front of Cydel.