The ride to Runeg Skil was packed. Other enrollees filled each seat and even the aisles. The shuttle bus i rode on sped through a valley of grassy fields.
A short haired boy with green eyes sat next to me.
"How long have you been playing KING'S RULE?" He asked me.
I was too busy paying attention to the landscape outside to hear him. I'd never been outside my town where nothing but sky scrapers and apartment buildings blocked the horizon. Now I could see the horizon and everything before it.
He elbowed me.
"Didn't you hear me?"
I shook my head and apologized. "Sorry. No."
"How long have you been playing?" He flashed me his deck box. It was a regal blue with silver edges. On its opening flap was a strange logo on it. "I've been playing since I was 8."
"Oh, uh." My eyes shifted back outside. "I only picked up the game two months ago."
I felt his eyes on me. "Only 2 months?" When I nodded he asked, "How did you get accepted so quickly? Most players need 500 hours of playing experience." My silence let him come to his own conclusions. "Oh, you must know someone in the KR community. Like a sponsor or something?"
"Something like that." I watched a lone tree appear and disappear as we past it.
My neighbor noticed that I wasn't very communicative. Because of that, he turned and talked to his neighbor across the aisle. They had a much more fulfilling conversation.