Quest: To the Depths
Gaia, Primal of the Wilds, wants you to dive to the bottom of the lake in the south of the Dark Woods and retrieve an item.
Objectives:
Progress: 0%
Item retrieved: 0/1
Rewards:
Variable
“Are you serious?” Jake sighed as he walked through the woods, taking his time to gather as many mushrooms and other interesting looking plants as he could, “Dive to the bottom of a lake? How am I supposed to do that?”
Shaking his head, Jake continued though the forest as he muttered to himself. A distant howl made him freeze as he looked up from the small patch of mushrooms he was gathering, swallowing nervously as he remembered the wolves. After a moment, another distant howl answered the first, before the woods fell silent once again. Getting up, he started walking with a little more speed in the direction he’d seen the lake, forcing himself not to break out into a panicked sprint even as he recalled the sensation of dying.
“They’re too far away to have picked up my scent,” he said quietly to himself, “And I’m pretty sure I’m out of their territory right now, so I should be fine.”
Even so, Jake still picked up his pace, pausing only to quickly gather any mushrooms he spotted as he continued on to the lake.
------
Andy Groaned as he glared at the potion in his hand. GNW didn’t have regenerating health, probably because it was seen as too unrealistic to the RAS system, so the only way to heal with through potions, magic or resting, which could take hours if you had a lot of Health Points. And considering that his party of two didn’t have a Healer, it was waiting or potions for the pair of them. The problem Andy now faced was that this was his last potion, and it was one of the ones he’d been scammed into buying.
“Just drink the damn thing,” Shadow huffed as they hid in a small alcove inside the cave, waiting for their health and stamina to return before they delved in deeper, “The sooner you get rid of it, the better you’ll feel.”
“I know that,” Andy muttered, “It’s just…I kind of want to keep it as a reminder. Not to trust shitty salespeople that easily, you know?”
“Hey, it’s hardly my fault you were such a noob,” Shadow laughed, “Mr. I can spot a Rogue.”
“Shut up,” Andy grumbled as he put the potion back in his inventory, standing up as he stretched, “Anyway, we should have enough goblin ears now to finish the Quest, and the amount of experience we’re getting is dropping off due to us finding an easy way to kill the goblins, so how about we head back into town?”
“Hold on,” Shadow said as he hopped to his feet as well, “I want to try getting a few more loincloths for Mirri.”
“Seriously dude?” Andy chuckled, “I get that they’re technically a crafting material, but what could she want with a pile of stinking fabric and leather?”
“Oh, trust me,” Shadow hummed, “You’ll be amazed at what she could turn these things into. Plus, I like seeing her happy.”
It turned out that the Rogue and the Crafter were dating in the real world, liking to play games together. Shadow would go out and collect materials for Mirri, while she would craft him the best possible gear she could. Andy just shook his head as he peeked out of the alcove, making sure that there were no goblins around, before stepping out, Shadow following close behind him.
“You know, we were pretty lucky that the Adventurer’s Guild has managed to clamp down on the Quest problem,” Shadow hummed as they started to walk towards the entrance of the cave, “They’re only giving out Quests to small groups or individuals to prevent what happened with the rabbits on the first day.”
“True,” Andy muttered back, straining his ears slightly as he thought he heard something, “Hold on, hide quickly, I think someone’s coming.”
“What about you? If it’s a lot of goblins, you could be overwhelmed,” Shadow whispered as he vanished into the shadows.
“I’m a Tank,” Andy grinned, “I can take it. As long as you can pick them off from the rear.”
“Got it,” Andy could hear the grin in the Rogue’s voice as he fell silent, before the armoured man looked around the dimly lit cave, spotting a cluster of stalagmites he could hide behind.
He waited for a minute, the sounds he had heard earlier quickly becoming louder as he peeked out from his hiding place, his eyes going wide at what he saw. A woman with long red hair and wearing the basic starter gear was being dragged into the cave by three goblins, her hands and feet bound, a dirty cloth tied over her mouth as she struggled in their arms. The three were apparently laughing as they pulled her deeper into the cave, the woman looking around frantically for any kind of help.
What the fuck?
Andy almost jumped at the party chat from Shadow, quickly replying.
Hold your ground, we strike when they’re past me.
Andy didn’t wait for a response as he ducked back behind the stalagmites, calming his breathing as he waited for the monsters to move past him. A cruel chuckle came from the group as they passed by, the goblins eyeing the woman in a way that made Andy uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forwards, letting out a bellowing shout as he slammed the side of his sword against his shield, making the goblins jump as they dropped their prisoner to the ground, spinning to stare at him.
“Now!” he shouted, seeing Shadow appear behind one of the goblins, stabbing his dagger through its throat as he charged towards the remaining two.
To the goblins credit, they quickly managed to gather themselves, drawing rusty short swords and charging at the threat in front of them. Andy raised his shieled as the first goblin reached him, blocking its clumsy strike, before the second leapt at him, stabbing into his chest. The point of the blade skittered off the bronze armour, leaving a scratch, but not managing to actually hurt him. Andy quickly shield-bashed his attacker, sending the creature flying back onto its back, where Shadow appeared above it, stabbing his dagger right into its chest, piercing its heart as blood spilled out of the wound. Andy didn’t bother to watch this as he swung his sword in a wide arc at the other goblin, knocking its own sword aside, before planting a boot onto its chest, forcing it to the ground, before he stabbed it in the head, skewering it to the floor.
“Well, that went well,” Shadow hummed as he knelt beside the woman, cutting the crude rope around her wrists and ankles with his dagger, “You okay, miss?”
Stolen story; please report.
“I’m fine, thank you,” the woman gagged slightly as she pulled the cloth from her face, tossing it to the side where Shadow quickly scooped it up, “Thank you.”
“Not a problem,” Andy hummed, “Care to tell us how you ended up captured by goblins?”
“I was in the nearby woods,” she explained, “Collecting ingredients, when a group of those things ambushed me. I thought I was about to die when they all grabbed me and tied me up, several of them dragging me here. Where is here, anyway?”
“Gloomy Caves,” Shadow replied, “Bunch of gobbos set up a camp here and we were sent to clear them out.”
“Oh,” the woman nodded, getting to her feet slowly, “Just the two of you?”
“Yep,” Shadow grinned, “We’ve made pretty good progress so far, I’d say we’ve cleared out about half the caves.”
“That sounds nice,” the woman nodded, before gasping, “Oh! I am so sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself! I go by Holistic Healer, a pleasure to meet you.”
“Goldrun Strongarm,” Andy said, pointing to Shadow as the shorter man waved, “And that’s Shadow Walker. Pleasure to meet you. I take it by your name that your Class is Healer?”
“Likewise,” the woman nodded, “And yes, I am a Healer.”
“Cool, want to join our party?” Shadow asked, the woman jumping slightly at the offer, “Or do you already have a party? I know that Healers are usually pretty rare in these types of games.”
“Oh, I don’t have a party,” she shook her head, “Well, not for lack of trying. It’s just…well, it turns out that Healers start off very weak in this game, so not a lot of people want them in their parties. It also doesn’t help that this is the first game like this that I’ve ever played.”
“You mean an FD game?” Andy asked, the woman shaking her head.
“No, an RPG, I’ve played plenty of FD games, mostly FPS where I was the Medic,” she sighed, “I’m not used to using magic to heal people.”
“That sucks,” Shadow hummed, “So, want to join us anyway?”
“What?” she blinked, “You…you mean it?”
“Yep,” Andy grinned as he sent the party invite, “Even if you’re not that good, having a Healer would be a massive help to us. And you can learn as you go, so I don’t see a problem.”
“I…thank you!” the woman smiled as she accepted, “I’m sure my kids will be happy to hear I’ve found a party.”
“Wait…” the two men said, “Kids?”
------
Jake sighed in relief as he reached the lake, looking out over the sparklingly clear water as he hurried out of the woods, the wounds of the wolves howling still in the air.
“Okay,” he said to himself as he reached the stony bank of the lake, the water almost crystal clear as he knelt beside it, filling his empty waterskin and the five new bottles he had, “Now, how to I get to the bottom?”
Simply swimming down probably wasn’t an option, considering he could see almost to the floor of the lake, and it looked quite deep. That meant he’d need someway to get down there fast, and back up just as fast if he ran out of air. Picking up a decently sized stone from the shore, he hefted it in his hand, musing on what to do. HE opened his inventory, checking over its contents again to remind him of what he had, pulling out the coil of rope and length of Leatherwood Bark as a plan started to form in his mind.
It was the job of a few minutes to cut the bark with his Survival Knife, getting a nice square piece that he poked holes into at each corner, before threading some rope through it to tie them together. Next, he quickly filled the makeshift sack with as many rocks as he could, checking its weight occasionally to make sure he could still carry it. Finally, he inspected his work, blinking as a screen appeared above it.
Simple Leatherwood Diving Weight
A sack of rocks meant to pull someone down through water.
Quality: Common
“Well, that works,” Jake muttered, attempting to put the sack in his inventory, grinning when it worked, “Now, how to get to the centre of the lake?”
Jake spent an hour skirting the lake, looking for anything that may help him get to the centre without taking too long, coming up empty as he finally returned to the place he’d started. Shaking his head, he simply walked forwards, wading into the cool water as he walked deeper into the lake. A few minutes later, he was swimming at a steady pace towards the middle, having already dismissed a notification asking if he wanted to learn the [Swimming] Skill. Pausing, he treaded water as he looked back at the shore, estimating that he was about in the right position, before opening his inventory.
The sack of rocks appeared in his hands, Jake hooking his arms through the loops of rope he’d added as handles as he took a deep breath before he let himself be pulled beneath the surface of the water. The cool water quickly grew colder as he dropped, Jake holding his breath as he felt the pressure begin to build, eyes open as he tried to watch for anything that may try to come and attack him. IN his current position, he wouldn’t be able to fight back without letting go of the sack, which would not only mean he’d have to swim back to shore to make another, but that he would potentially lose some important resources as well.
Just as the thought passed through his mind, a screen appeared in front of him, making Jake swallow nervously.
You are starting to Drown.
You have 1 minute 14 seconds of air left before you start taking damage.
Jake could only watch as the screen vanished, a small symbol looking like a collection of bubbles appearing at the edge of his vision as the timer under it counted down. Jake flinched as the timer dropped below a minute, watching as the seconds ticked down far faster than he would have liked, blinking as the notification telling him his [Sharp Eyes] Skill had levelled up distracted him for a moment. The timer dropped even lower as he peered into the dark water beneath him, his lungs starting to burn as the number dropped below thirty, Jake cursing himself for this stupid idea.
The timer dropped to single digits as the sack hit the floor of the lake, Jake immediately starting to look around for whatever he was supposed to retrieve, eyes falling on a surprisingly large skeleton of some sort of fish a short distance away. He was about to unhook his arms from the loops of the weight, when a large bubble of air suddenly formed beneath him, rising up out of the ground and enveloping both him and the skeleton as he let out a pained cough, taking a deep breath.
“Wait,” he gasped, suddenly realising that whatever this was may not actually be breathable air, “Shit.”
“You’re fine,” Gaia chuckled behind him as Jake looked over his shoulder, the silt and rocks of the lakebed rising up into the familiar feminine figure, “Think of this as a gift from me to you for completing the Quest so quickly.”
“Oh,” Jake coughed again, taking in another lungful of air, “Thanks.”
“You are most welcome,” Gaia nodded, “Now, are you going to retrieve what you were sent here for?”
“Right,” Jake nodded, unhooking his arms before hurrying over to the fish skeleton, snapping off one of the thicker ribs and returning to Gaia, “It’s this, right?”
“Quite right,” the figure said, taking the bone and covering it with her hands, a pale green light emanating form between her fingers before she opened her hands and gave the bone back to him, “There is your reward.”
“Thank you?” Jake said as he looked at the thick needle in his hands, reading the screen that appeared above it in interest.
Bone Needle of the Wilds
A needle made of bone enchanted to better pierce leather and leather-like materials.
Quality: Epic
Soulbound
“Great,” he sighed, looking back at Gaia, “So…now what?”
“Now you need to figure out a way back to the surface,” Gaia hummed gleefully as the soil and stone began to crumble apart, falling into a small pile on the floor, “Oh, and this bubble will collapse and return to the surface in less than a minute.”
“What?!” Jake shouted as the figure collapsed, “What the hell?!”
Thinking quickly, Jake grabbed his makeshift sack, emptying the rocks out of it and holding it upside down above his head. Taking several deep breaths, Jake counted down in his mind as he waited for the bubble to move. IF what Gaia had said was true, them hopefully his hastily thought up plan would work, if not, he was probably going to drown. The bubble shuddered, suddenly shooting off the floor of the lake as it rose, some of it miraculously being trapped in the makeshift sack, making it act like a balloon.
Jake had to supress a gasp as the icy water slammed in around him, almost losing his grip on the sack as it was yanked upwards. He actually rose faster than he anticipated, having to let a slow stream of bubbles out of his mouth as he rose to avoid the air in his lungs form expanding too much and ripping him apart from the inside. He got the notification that he was about to start drowning just as he reached the surface of the lake, bursting out into the afternoon sun as he coughed and gasped, quickly stuffing the makeshift sack into his inventory as he started to swim to the shore.
A slow swim later saw Jake staggering onto the rocky shore, panting as he collapsed onto the sun warmed rocks and rolling onto his back. After a few minutes of rest, he opened his eyes, staring up at the sky as he spoke.
“Gaia,” he chuckled as he closed his eyes again, deciding to take a short rest, “You’re kind of a bitch.”