Chapter 9: Quest's update, new leads
- Don't talk to me!
- But I...
- I said: don't talk to me!
- At least...
- DON'T TALK TO ME! - screamed Viricide making some players nearby jump out of fright.
- ...
Currently the siblings were walking through the streets of City of Beginners. Or it was of Viricide going in a random direction with Neriehem following her.
The reason for Viricide's hateful reaction was the anger at her brother, who threw her across the city. It wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that he almost didn't make it to her and caught her before she died from the fall. Right now he was trying to find a way to apologize for this hell flight.
But with no success so far...
- All right, I can't bring myself to hate you for too long, big bro.
- 'Whew...'
- However I have one thing on my mind you have to do as an apology.
- What's that?
- Cancel the punishment for our bet this night.
- ...all right.
- I love you brother! - said Viricide and hugged Neriehem.
With that the siblings went around the town, making necessary preparations for the nights to come. First, they visited blacksmith, Neriehem - to blacksmith's surprise - ordered arm rings, as well as leg rings made of pure gold. Also he ordered similar ones but from lead for Viricide. After that he paid for the work and gave away most of the gold they had as a resource. Neriehem also asked the man to repair his weapons for him.
While blacksmith was working, siblings went to a tailor. There, they ordered complete sets of leather armor. Neriehem decided to stay at the colors he had. Viricide however wanted white chest and leg pieces, while gloves and boots were black. Also, she wanted her boots to have thick bottom and medium-length heels.
While she was at it, she also ordered matching sheaths for her handguns, with them being white on top and black at where was the barrel.
After making orders, they went to an inn, ordered a room and a hearty dinner. After stuffing themselves full, they logged out ad took care of their needs. After that they logged in and slept until evening. Then they woke up and took everything they ordered. Both of them changed their clothes to the new ones.
Then they adjusted the number of rings on their limbs, so that they could barely move and went to the park. There, they spent two hours running around to get used to being burdened so much again.
And so, they continued to hunt during the night, increasing their stats extremely, for the following days.
* * *
- Hey, do you hear that? - asked Viricide
- You mean those sounds of fight?
- Yeah. It looks like we have inspired someone to brave those demons.
- More like there's someone with enough backbone to actually not piss their pants out of fear when he saw them.
- Yeah, but still...
- All right, let's go and check it out.
And so they headed the direction sounds of battle were coming from. Of course they were breaking trough the legions of demons, so the other party eventually heard them as siblings were coming closer.
Finally siblings had the other party in their sights.
There were three people. Two men and one woman. One of the men wielded a great-sword and it seemed like he was taking the aggro of most demons around. The other one was jumping around, slashing everything around him with his dual-wielded swords. Siblings recognized them right away. They were Garoth and Lark, two gladiators they recognized from the arena.
However it was the first time they saw the third person. She was a High Elf. She was tall, had slender body and long, black hair, reaching her back. It wasn't combed, so when she moved it flowed around her.
Her weapon was a large staff, which she used quite skilfully to defend against demons that came too close. By then she was using some kind of enchants on her staff and made a quick work from them. When she wasn't in immediate danger, she was using long-range spells on demons and heals on Garoth when he was in need of them.
Siblings noticed that the party was in a pinch, and rushed in to help them. Literally after a minute the area was cleared and they rushed to collect the gold that was lying around. The party looked around in a confusion, before laying down on the ground.
- God, we're alive!
- I thought that it's never going to end, you know.
- Tell me about it...
The party stayed quiet for a moment. After that Lark said:
- Hey, didn't you hear those sounds of a fight coming our direction?
- That wasn't an echo of us making a massacre here? - asked Garoth in return.
- No, when we started it wasn't there. I think that... - Lark was about to end his thought, when he was interrupted by a person appearing out of nowhere behind him.
- We were really saved by the Savior? - asked Neriehem.
The party jumped at the sight of him appearing so close. The first one to cool down was the woman.
- So you imply that you are the savior?
- Not at all, I was about to tell you that you shouldn't refer to me that way. By the way, the name's Neriehem.
- I'm Aluna, nice to meet you.
- Heyyy, bro, don't go off meeting them without me! - said Viricide jumping on him from the roof of a nearby building.
- And here's my little sister Viricide – he said, stepping aside and making her hit the ground, as he gestured towards her.
- Come on, is this how you introduce me to the others?
- You wanted to make fun of me in the first place, so...
- S-shut up!
Fortunately before another quarrel started between siblings, Lark decided to butt in.
- But if you aren't the savior, then who is?
- Nobody is. The whole thing started from the night I had my first hunt, I think...
- So you are the savior!
- I may be the person who started killing those demons, but it's only that I had unfortunate log-in during the nighttime and somehow went over my fear of them. After seeing how weak they are I got angry and before I knew it it was daytime. Of course I was killing everything that was in front of me...
- … - the party was speechless at that blunt answer. Right away they images of a god-sent savior were shattered.
- Then why are you continuing doing it? I mean, killing those demons.
- Because it's better than simply hitting scarecrow for training... - Neriehem stopped.
As of now he remembered the quest he received on his first night in the game. In fact, he even forgot to mention it to his sister after the first log out.
He brought up the quest window to check it over.
Quest: The source of despairRank:8Time limit:26 daysDescription:
The City of Begginers is plagued by some strange power. Find out what it is and destroy it before time limit runs out and everybody give in to despair and leave the city to ghost.
Success: Experience, Fame, Ultra-rare class depending on the performance.
Failure: Destruction of Begginer's City, future new players will lose the chance to experience City of Begginers.Do you want to accept?
To his surprise, the description of the quest changed before his eyes.
Quest: The source of despairRank:8Time limit:26 daysDescription:
The City of Begginers is plagued by the demons of night. Find out why they started to appear and make sure that the city will be safe from them.
Success: Experience, Fame, Ultra-rare class depending on the performance.
Failure: Destruction of Beginner's City, future new players will lose the chance to experience City of Begginers.Do you want to accept?
He pondered for a while, before answering questioning gazes of the four around him.
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- You know, I forgot about the fact that I got a quest to get rid of them. Until now, that is – he told them.
Suddenly they heard growls from all around them. They were about to attack them, when Neriehem started to speak.
- Let's meet up later under the clock tower, all right? I'd like to ask your opinions on this whole stuff.
- All right, when?
- After night ends. Let's split up and kill as many demons as we can in the meantime. Also, keep in mind that if killing them repeatedly was the requirement for completion of this quest, then I would have done it by now – he said. - Now go!
After that they split into 3 teams with Neriehem and Viricide being 2 of them. The three didn't want to take any risks.
They hunted for the whole night.
After that they met up under the clock tower and decided to investigate the matter further.
* * *
- Okay then. So far we have spent a week hunting those demons with no sign of completing the quest – said Neriehem to three people around him.
They all noticed that no matter the effort they have put into fighting, there was no effect on demons. Actually, since last night they managed to reach enough strength to clean the city streets clean of demons. Also, there were four of them now since Lark finished his 40-day confinement and was teleported away while he received his class.
Also, since Lark as well as Garoth and Aluna went along Neriehem's suggestion to train with the usage of weights, their stats were much greater than those of an average player. Still they couldn't match either Neriehem or Viricide, with the former going as far as ordering a whole set of golden armor made specifically to restrict his movements on top of burdening him. Behind his back Neriehem was referred to as a 'monster' by those who knew of it.
- Well, we could try asking NPCs questions, you know – said Aluna. After all, she was the one who got to learn vital information from NPC herself.
- 'No wonder she proposed it' – thought Neriehem, as he nodded his head. - Yeah, that's a good idea. Remember that the time left now is 21 days. It might seem a lot, but that means we have half the time left right now. I would like you all to think of any alternate way of gathering information – he said.
- I know one, but I don't think that it's going to work out... - said Viricide quietly. Everybody looked at her. - And now that I think about it, it's really bad idea to...
- Telling us won't do any harm, you know – encouraged her Aluna, placing her hand on Viricide's shoulder.
- All right... we can check out the library – said Viricide.
- Isn't it that small building in the west part of the city? - asked Garoth, frowning his brows.
- You know, you shouldn't judge the book by it's cover – said Viricide, recalling that she felt the same as she saw the building for the first time.
- Looks like it's decided then. Me and Garoth will go around the city asking fellow residents about any info that might be related to demons, while Viricide and Aluna will go to library and research what they deem useful. Any objections? - asked Neriehem, looking at them. Nobody refused, and so they split up into two teams.
* * *
A rumor has spread around the new players in the city about two men walking around and asking NPCs about demons-related things. At first curious players tried to stalk the two thinking that it's connected to some kind of a quest. How close they were to the truth!
Meanwhile the library was unusually crowded with players. It might have surprised somebody not knowing the situation. However, once that person learned of it, he would immediately join the group. The reason for it was the appearance of two female players, who told everybody that the person would receive two gold coins for finding out any useful information regarding demons, the reason for their appearance and the likes.
Needless to say that the females making such an offer were Viricide and Aluna.
* * *
Finally, after a week of intense work, the team joined up once again. Right now they were inside the inn they slept in.
- So, what did you find out? - Neriehem asked two girls before him.
- Beside the fact that greed really can change a person? A great deal of things – said Viricide with a sigh.
- However most of it were either lies, made up stories or something we already knew – picked up
- Then your side was a failure? - asked Garoth.
- Hey don't be like that! We have found some pretty good info when we sorted out all what we were told – said Viricide, looking at Garoth. Then, she took out a bunch of papers. - Hey Alu, help me out.
- Got it – Aluna replied and started to check through the half of papers that she received.
After a few moments, the girls found what they were looking for.
- All right, here it is... According to the information we have researched or bought from gold-hungry bookworms, it seems that there was a barrier surrounding the city, made by the ancestors. Well, I might say that in a past tense, however everybody believes that it should still be there. On the border walls of the city. - Explained Viricide.
- That covers what we were told by NPCs, doesn't it Garoth? - asked Neriehem.
- Yeah – he said. - But don't think that we didn't check. So far, during nighttime as we were hunting we were also looking for that whole barrier thing, and all we saw were some runes engraved into wall – Garoth said.
- That's what I'm talking about! - shouted Viricide excited.
- But there's a little problem... - said Neriehem. Girls looked at him. - You know, we went all the way around the city but couldn't find any broken parts.
- Are you sure you didn't miss anything in the dark?
- I'm sure of it. I have my night vision after all, and Garoth was with me just in case I actually do miss something. Nothing so far – sighed Neriehem, leaning against the wall and putting his hands behind his head.
The party fell into silence for a while.
Finally Aluna broke the silence.
- We need some kind of a plan now.
- Tell you what – said Neriehem sarcastically.
- Hey, don't be so rude now.
- Right, sorry. It's just that I really want to complete this quest... especially after learning that it should be possible to complete it – apologized Neriehem.
- If the barrier is made by engraving runes on the walls... shouldn't be there a person who knows how to do it? - asked Viricide.
- What makes you think that? We were told that runes were left to them by the ancients – said Neriehem.
- The town keeps on growing, doesn't it? That and there's no way building wouldn't need repairs after such a long time. That leads to the fact that there must be at least one person who would be taking care of maintaining those runes – explained Viricide.
- Hey, that makes sense now. Let's head out immediately! - decided Neriehem and stood up.
Everybody followed him and they headed out to the city.
They split up and searched around the whole thing, before Garoth was told by an old beggar that the head of the church might now something regarding the matter. Of course the info wasn't free, but Garoth was happy to receive it and didn't mind paying for it.
Actually instead of requested 10 silvers he gave beggar 10 golds out of pure gratefulness.
And so they met up before the cathedral with the usage of whispers.
The party walked inside with high hopes.
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All right, now with the afterword I've got one thing to say:
SORRY FOR RELEASING IT SO LATE! :;^^:
However I had pretty busy week and couldn't write because of the school. Hopefully I'll get some free time soon to be able to work on the story a little more.
Thanks for patience! :-)