404: The Play

The Play

Ning dressed up in his new suit and walked out of his room. He felt weird wearing something so tight that he felt like his whole body was being constrained from the outside, but he had to go with what the society wore if he wanted to fit in.  1

Although, He didn't like the idea of wearing a hat, so he wore nothing on his head. Once he was ready, he went down the elevator and exited the hotel.

Today was the day for the theater play that he was looking forward to for 3 days now. 

The theater wasn't that far away, so Ning reached the place in under 5 minutes. He met Reever and Lisa outside the theatre and went in together. 

The inside of the theater looked magnificent. Multiple bulbs lit up the inside while a cool breeze circulated throughout the hall prior to even entering the theater room. 

"Let's go find out seats," Reever said and walked in with Lisa. Ning followed behind and walked with them as well.

Their seats turned out to be at the very end of the hall, from where they could barely see. 

"It's free, so you can't complain, can you?" Reever said.

Ning didn't really mind sitting at the back since he had the magnification skill. But he worried that Reever and Lisa wouldn't have as fun of a time.

The place started to get more and more filled and soon the lights dimmed as only the light on the stage shined. 

A half-naked man walked onto the set, and with him, music followed. A low hum could be heard in the background as the man brought out a sword and started swinging it around. 

The narrator started speaking. "Ever since his young age, Emperor Kron never had the talent for Aether. So, he spent all of his time focusing on swordsmanship and education."

"By the age of 20, he was a master at the sword. By 30, his understanding of politics surpassed even the best amongst the best. When he was 37, he defeated his brothers and became the Emperor of Xandria."

A girl in a maid costume walked from behind the curtains. "Your highness, the general is here to meet you," she said.

"Send him in," the Emperor said as he continued flexing his muscles while training with the sword. 

The girls in the audience really seemed to like the handsome actor who played the emperor and his bare-chested body.

"Your majesty, I have come with bad news," the general said.

"You have come with news, General. Whether it is bad or good is something for me to decide," the emperor said. 

"Your highness, the beasts are getting more and more restless. They attack the border cities and villages more and more frequently. If we don't do something soon, we will have to hear the sad news of these places being decimated someday soon," the General said. 

"Hmm… that is bad news," the Emperor said. The Emperor thought for a second and called the minister. 

"Yes, your highness," a bald man with a book walked out from behind the curtains. 

"Send a letter to the Tower. I request as many men as they can give me," the Emperor said while facing the audience. 

"Men, milord? What reason shall I tell them?" the minister asked.

"Tell them… we are going to war."

The rest of the play was about the emperor finding troops and fighting the beasts. There were some interesting costume designs that Ning found quite fun at the place.

What Ning found the most interesting was in particular the effects used by the theater. There were floating fire and water to give different effects, and Ning could only imagine how talented the person carrying out these effects must've been.

The war against the beasts ended and the narrator told them how the beasts never dared show themselves after the war.

The emperor then had a son, who would then come to be the current emperor of Xandria, Emperor Kain. 

The final act of the play was the Emperor on his death bed. It turned out that all this time, he had been hiding a wound he acquired during the war against the beast, but he never let it hinder his will to help the masses. 

There were sounds of sobbing from the audience as they witness the top-tier performance of the actor. 

Ning didn't feel any emotion in particular, but that was likely because he wasn't part of this empire. He turned around to look at the husband and wife couple to see if they were emoting at all.

Lisa didn't seem to hold much emotion in her eyes, but Reever was definitely feeling the emotions. There were tears in his eyes as he was fully invested in the story.

The Emperor died on the stage and the curtain closed. The crowd stood up and gave a standing ovation at the fantastic play. 

Reever was one of the most enthusiastic applauders amongst them. Lisa shook her head when she saw this and snickered a little. 

Then, she saw something a little further away and her eyes changed. They went from entertained, to scared. 

"Can we leave?" she asked. Ning hadn't noticed the change, so he was a little confused as to why she would suddenly ask that.

"Let's wait a couple of minutes. Let's thank the actors before we go," Reever said, but Lisa wasn't having it. 

"I'm… feeling a little lightheaded. Can we go back to the shop please," she asked.

"Oh, if you're not feeling well, then you should have told me earlier. Alright, let's go," Reever said and started walking out. 

Ning didn't have anything else to do, so he too walked out. As he left, he saw Lisa look towards the stage once more and leave in a hurry. 

Ning turned around and looked towards where she did and saw someone there. 'Oh, she was here too, huh?' he thought.

"Brother Ning, you coming?" Reever asked.

"Ah, yes. Let's leave," Ning said and walked out of the theater with Reever and Lisa.

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