The air around was heavy and somewhat stuffy; it felt humid, yet it was hardly warm at all. The space around was dark and was only becoming darker. Once again, the foreigner was in this sunny-cave; yet again…for whatever reason…she had found herself gravitating to it.

Over and over again, on repeat, she had been doing this one same quest.

Only four copies remained on the board; she had done all of the rest prior. With each repeat, she had only become better, always striving to be faster and more efficient…and more faster…and more efficient. With each attempt, always learning new things, with each next attempt always applying those new things; always evolving, always adapting, yet ultimately…stagnating.

After completing her fourth repetition of this same duplicate collection quest, she had decided to get bolder…accepting two quests at once, something which was allowed…but discouraged…for rookies such as her.

It helped, however, that her two chosen quests were…well…the same exact duplicates, thus she was essentially doubling both the reward and quantity of items to be collected for this otherwise single uniform quest; a ‘two-as-one’ as the Guild called it.

Having had collected the sea shrubs, now all she had to do was…fetch those glow-crystals.

Ever since she had discovered the existence of those crystalline arachnids’ nesting grounds and their…strange reproductive rituals, the collection of those glow-crystals had become a more easy and fast endeavor. All she had to do was simply track and locate their nesting grounds, specifically those undergoing a mating crucible, wait for them to cull themselves, dispatch the few stragglers…and then scavenge what she could from the…bloody and gory…mess left behind.

Indeed, those arachnids did not leave much behind in terms of quest-viable glow-crystals…since devouring them was an apparent component of that…mating procedure of theirs; yet regardless, this tactic had overall proved to be far faster and more efficient than…her prior one of simply rummaging around aimlessly until eventually bumping into a glow-crystal of interest.

It was now passed the mid-point of the second month of this new year; she had long already paid this month’s rent, which had…to no surprise…in fact…risen.

Indeed, when the landlord or…rather that collector whom had been dispatched in their stead…had arrived to collect the rent due, the collector had noticed…that she was suddenly far more…with coin than prior. When the collector had then probed and inquired, she…had perhaps made the naive mistake of telling the vague truth…that she had found a new…job which paid…quite a lot compared to her prior.

Not long after this happening, she had then received notice that the next rent due would be considerably…higher, as if in direct reaction to her own increased income—a coincidence that not even she herself was completely aloof to.

Thus now, it was prudent that she complete these quests…or rather this quest…in a timely manner, since…she had inferred that this pattern was only going to continue going forward.

Though, coin was not the only reason for why she was constantly doing this specific quest over and over again. It was…simply predicable, consistent, and familiar; each copy had the same exact reward and she understood what this quest entailed and knew what to expect from it.

Likewise…in general…she was finding these quests to be…satisfying in a way; she always preferred it when she had directives and mandates which were straightforward and with explicit expectations and objectives that were clearly defined and laid out; indeed…existence was so much easier when things were such a way.

Of course, such could be said about for all such ‘quests’ on that quest-board, but…a directive was a directive, and she had no problems with the constant repetition of this array of identical duplicates, especially since, again, the repetition only meant predictability. The purpose of her entire existence was to be given directives and ordinances to be executed proficiently; thus, for her…simply having any sort of directives at all was…on its own…rather…stimulating enough…in more ways than she could possibly comprehend.

“…say, you really know where you’re going, lady?” so interrogated the man who was…with her as she strolled and wandered deeper and deeper into this sunny-cave; “I can’t see shit” he added.

The foreigner sighed; “Yes. I know…to where I am going; I have followed this path before” she replied.

Ah, right, that ‘wagoneer’ fellow of sorts; indeed, that denizen was a rather handy one. She had been providing him with half of her reward due to his…collaboration and assistance with her operational efforts. Without him and his primitive animal-drawn transportation wagon, all of these duplicate quests would have taken…rather longer.

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Though, as of late, the wagoneer had been…far more interested in direct assistance and involvement, something she had no…protests with even if she did not want to have to…deal with the burden of…worrying about the insurance of his safety.

Assistance was still assistance, after all, and she made sure to use such collaborative help when offered…at least…so as long as she was the one dictating how such offered help was enacted. Indeed, for as much as she was one who preferred it when mandates and directives were given…she was also one to give them herself.

“So, uhm…why are you dragging me into this cave? I know I said at some point that…I was…in the Imperial army, but…that was almost fifteen years ago! I was just a sharpshooter! What good’s a sharpy-rifle gonna do in this narrow place?” he asked and remarked.

Indeed, in the wagoneer’s hands was…a primitive firearm, a rather long ‘marksman rifle’ of sorts, along with a primitive and rather improvised ‘sight’ or ‘scope’ of sorts—one clearly not local in origins, seemingly.

Apparently, this wagoneer had once been a personnel of sorts in this so-called ‘Imperial’ army—the standing military and security forces of that ‘Empire of Pegasus’, which, compared to the rest of these lands, operated an ‘ever-modernizing’ military…whatever that was supposed to mean.

All the foreigner cared to know, however, was that he could shoot from a distance, and it was clear that he was rather an enthusiastic and experienced shooter, just given the…expensive degree with which he had modified his firearm.

His firearm used…not a percussion ‘primer-cap’ like hers did, rather…it utilized a snap-lock mechanism, one that used…a rather bright exotic crystal of sorts…one that was very hard…and extremely reactive, even in very humid and wet weather conditions. It was what the locals called a ‘crystal-lock’ or…actually a…stone-lock; truly, they had the word for ‘crystal’ but never seemed to use it.

This firearm was a rather dated model, initially being one that required the cartridge and shot to be shoved down the barrel; but, it had been clearly retrofitted and modified to be of a breechloading variety, something which the wagoneer had said that he had done on his own, remarking how…painstaking the entire process had been for both his mind and coin-pouch.

The foreigner, again, sighed; “I already told you” she replied, bluntly.

“I know…but…I just need to hear it again…” he replied.

“Yesterday was the slow and not good day. I did not collect too much, so it is necessary that you follow me and help me carry the crystals, and also since you can shoot, I need you to provide the support for me” she explained; “you wanted to help, so, you are helping” she added.

“I get that…but I’m still trying to…wrap my head around…how I can support you in this tight, close, and narrow space with a sharpy-rifle! We didn’t use bayonets back then, you know? I don’t have any training for when shit gets close!” the wagoneer, trailing behind, responded and reiterated.

The foreigner, yet again, sighed; “You will not be supporting me here; I am better in the close…fighting, so you will not do that. The place…that I am trying to find is open enough for you to be the helpful at distance” she replied.

They continued to make way deeper into this cavern until finally arriving. Before their eyes as they stood at the edges of this hole of an entry-point…was a large and spacious luminant environment, one of the many nesting grounds which she had discovered; one which only just the day before had been…full of arachnid corpses and remains…along with so many glow-crystals, which she had to leave behind due to her own…limited carry capacity.

Now with extra hands, such would not be nearly as much of a problem. She was expecting this nesting ground to have been quickly refilled with living crystalline arachnids…feasting upon the remains or…simply mating. Yet as they arrived…it became immediately clear…that it was…in fact…the opposite; empty…it was completely empty. Not even a single corpse or drop of goopy blood in sight; it had been completely and utterly scrubbed clean…somehow.

“…” she stared blankly…the screeches of chimeric crystalline arachnids echoing from so far off and away, as if tauntingly so, as if she were being mocked from afar.

The wagoneer stared from behind; “I get it that you aren’t freezing because of the shiny beauty around?” he remarked.

“You speak correctly” she replied bluntly; “the last time that I was here, there were many of the bodies; now there are none” she stated.

“…so wait…them glow-spiders came and ate the rest, then?” he inquired.

“Perhaps…” the foreigner replied, cogitating as her eyes evaluated, her mind…unconvinced of that possibility.

By this point, she had grown to…understand…those alien chimeras on a rather, hyperbolically, intimate level. Those things were the definition of chaotic apathy; they had not a single care in all of known existence itself regarding manners and pleasantry, never…ever had they ever left any place…this squeaky clean.

“Hmm…they are the messy things, they always leave behind the bloody bits and pieces, and they do not abandon the places they feed and mate in, they always return. But there is nothing here, dead or living. I do not think that they…caused this…it is too clean” she replied.

“…alrightly then, so what did then?” he asked.

« Nulla idéa’st méhi » she replied; “I have no idea” she repeated. “Let us simply try to find…new place, then; stay behind me, I will guide the way” she stated and commanded, before turning around and making way, the wagoneer doing the same, trailing closely behind.

She will cogitate the…implications of this sudden affair later…for indeed, nothing natural could have caused all of that gore, blood, and corpse-pieces to just so seemingly…despawn from existence in a single day. But for now…her principal and immediate priority was simply locating a new nesting ground to scavenge from and…completing these two identical quests.