Light the Darkness {F02 - - PP - - Let There Be Light Quest}

[Ronnel 0]

{{{Private Party: Cordelia and Ronnel}}} 

 

 

"...lp me?" The woman ahead of Ronnel was shaken off of the person who she had grabbed onto, their head twisting in the negative. The dark haired man frowned slightly as the woman seemed to deflate in on herself for a moment, tears leaking down her face and falling. Even though he knew that the woman was just lines of code, programmed to act like she was, he couldn't shake the feeling of pity, worry, as he watched her. 

 

Her head came up, and he could see that her cheeks were damp with tears. Their eyes locked, and a faint light of hope burst across her face as she hurried towards him, pushing past some of the other passer-by in the city. Ronnel planted the butt of his spear on the ground as the woman came up to him. 

 

Closer now, he could see faint lines of gray in her hair, and crows-feet at the corner of her eyes. Her dress was worn, patched and mended so much the original color and material of it was almost completely gone. A thin band of metal hung from a chain on her neck, a wedding band. 

 

"Please, sir, please." Her voice croaked out, worn from grief and tears, and doubtless countless pleas. "Please, can you help me? My daughter, she's…. She's.. She's…" The woman's shoulders shook as a fresh sob wracked her body. 

 

Family. Ronnel flicked his wrist, tossing his spear into his inventory. One hand clamped onto the woman's shoulder as he supported.  

 

"Easy, easy. Take a deep breath and start at the beginning. I'll do what I can to help." Family is important. Even if his hadn't felt that way at the end. 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia's body almost shook when she heard another sob wrack through the NPC's body. 

This is probably the fourth time she's heard this lady repeat the same lines over and over again today. Why was she even still here? She sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose irritably. She should probably start heading out soon. This quest was probably only going to last a quick second before she could do whatever the heck she wanted.

Cordelia gave a side glance to the player who was comforting the NPC and sighed. "You know that she's an NPC, right?" She deadpanned, equipping her katana and haori with a flick of her finger. "There's not use trying to comfort her, she's only going to give you the same lines she's been giving to the other thousands of players who did this quest," she muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she stretched her back. 

"Whatever, though. You can do whatever you want," she shrugged, giving him a backhand wave as she walked off to the town exit.

[Ronnel 0]

"My daughter was playing with her friend near the caves and..." Ronnel's attention was dragged away by a haori flickering into existence as it came out of inventory-space. The coded character kept speaking as he raised an eyebrow at the woman's dismissive attitude. It wasn't that unexpected though, most people weren't too interested in the NPCs that surrounded them from day to day. 

For him though - he straightened his back and squeezed the woman's shoulder. "We'll look for her." He knew it was a programmed response, but there was strong relief on the mother's face as he turned and started following the katana-weilding woman. 

While he wasn't too keen on working with others he didn't trust, the flashing indicator that had shown up told him this was a proper quest, not just a random encounter. Which meant he almost certainly wasn't strong enough to handle it on his own. So pride had to be swallowed - if he tried to solo this, he was almost certain to die. 

 

"Miss, miss!" He called after her as he jogged slightly to catch up. Hopefully she didn't just dismiss his request to party out of hand. She certainly came across as far more skilled than he was. Ronnel equipped his spear and hefted it onto his shoulders as he caught up to her. "Sorry, but - do you mind if we work together on this?" He fumbled a bit as he scrolled through menus - this was the first time he was trying to invite another player to a party. 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia paused, turning her head to the stranger. "Okay," she shrugged, offering him a small smile.

"Though, if you're looking to actually fight something, then you might be disappointed," she said vaguely before accepting his request and continuing down the path. 

"My name's Cordelia by the way," she stated before pointing to the raven on her shoulder, who has been relatively quiet throughout the whole encounter, "and this is Pacco. Don't mind him, he hasn't talked much after he ranked up. . . he definitely grew a few more feathers, though," she mumbled, her face going blank for a second before she laughed it off.

Well, it really didn't take long for them to appear at the cave where the girl supposedly was.

"Ah, here we are," she exclaimed. Cordelia beamed and clapped her hands together a single time. She turned to the man and smiled. "You're free to join me to go inside, but don't bother on drawing your spear," she sniffed, turning her head to look at the pitch black depths of the cavern. "It'll be over before you know it," she turned back to him and grinned. "Just don't get in my way, okay?"

[Ronnel 0]

"I'm Ronnel." He didn't know if it was supposed to be reassuring or not, but hey, he was going to take it as her saying it'd be pointless for him to try attacking. The caves were dark and the shadows seemed to stretch out of sight - something twisting vision, probably. He frowned slightly as he looked around and shrugged. 

 

"I'll do my best not to get in the way." He didn't make any promises if one charged him, but she figured she'd be able to pull all the Hate from any mobs that spawned faster than he could hope to. The dark-haired man would focus on trying to find the girl, instead, assuming that this wasn't one of the kinds of quests where the missing NPC would only appear once the enemies had been slain. 

 

Who was he kidding. It was probably exactly that kind of quest. Ronnel cursed quietly under his breath as they made their way through the caves. He didn't have anything to help see through the dark of the underground, and he'd stumbled over rocks a few times already. Still, it certainly meant that he wasn't too close to Cordelia so he shouldn't interfere if and when enemies spawned. 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia gave him a thumbs up before she unsheathed her katana. "Alright, stay far away from me. This fight might take a bit longer since it's so dark, but be aware of your surroundings," she warned, smiling at him reassuringly before she dashed off deeper in the cave. 

"M'kay, Pacco, do your thing," she whispered, nodding to her familiar before he fluttered off into the cave, becoming part of the shadows. 

She skidded to a halt in the center of the cave and huffed. Just a few moments later, her eyes glowed a bright red, courtesy of her familiar, of course. She cursed under her breath. Even with her enhanced vision, the darkness was still going to interfere with her combat. 

A small yelp escaped her as she felt a large creature fly down at her, swooping from above, and then another came from behind her. 

"Hah, screw you too, you giant furry oversized chickens!" She exclaimed, giving them the finger as she narrowly dodged their attacks, rolling to her side before either of them could grab her.

Cordelia | HP: 600/600 | EN: 59/60 | 12 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

ID: 132690
BD: 2, Miss
MD: 1, Miss
ID: 132691
BD: 1, Miss
MD: 8-3=5, Miss

Giant Bat: 50/50 HP
Damage per Attack: 20

Giant Bat: 50/50 HP
Damage per Attack: 20

[Ronnel 0]

He could hear the fight but for the life of him, Ronnel couldn't see a damn thing. From ahead of him he heard the sounds of swift motion -  but he didn't hear any screeches of pain, or shouts from his teammate. He grit his teeth as his fingers clenched around the haft of his spear. He knew that she'd told him not to get involved but - was he really just going to sit back and let her fight without even trying to help her? Eyes drifted closed and he drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He had to at least try. 

 

His feet kicked into motion almost before he'd come to the conscious decision. He sprinted down the cave, towards where he thought the fight was, preparing himself to try stabbing one of the bat's to at least distract them and maybe make Cordelia's job easier. The spear- wielder skidded to a halt, dust drifting up around his feet as he looked around and then began cursing. 

 

"There was a branch in the tunnel???" He hadn't seen it in the darkness. He had to have made a wrong turn, either following a wall he shouldn't have or not even realizing there was a tunnel where Cordelia had gone. This blasted darkness in the caves and the effect it was having on vision was problematic - now he had to back track and hopefully find the right way to where Cordelia was fighting. With an aggravated grunt he tossed his spear back into his inventory and started back the way he'd come - this time hopefully he didn't make a wrong turn! 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia huffed as her feet skidded to a stop, tracking up dust in her wake.

"Alright, enough playing around," she growled, clutching her katana in front of her as she put on a dangerous smirk. "Prepare to die!" 

As she charged forward, light poured out of her katana, illuminating the walls of the cave for only a brief second as she slashed her way through the bats. With her damage, it really was just overkill. As soon as her sword touched the things, they disappeared into shards of blue. 

"Ah, well that was fun," she mused, clapping off the dust on her hands as she sheathed her katana in its sheath. She looked around. Where did that Ronnel guy go? She deadpanned. Did he get lost in the caves? 

She was just about to go find him when she felt something tug on the sleeve of her haori. She paused, turning her head to see the NPC girl she was supposed to rescue. "Oh," she blinked, deadpanning before she turned her body completely to the girl. 

She groaned out loud and grasped her hand in hers. "Alright, let's go," she mumbled, tugging her along as she went to go look for the dude. 

ID: 132693
BD: 5+2=7, Hit
ID: 132694
BD: 9, Hit

Giant Bat: 0/50 HP
Damage per Attack: 20

Giant Bat: 0/50 HP
Damage per Attack: 20

[Ronnel 0]

"Oh thank goodness." The fluttering of wings had been what caught Ronnel's attention as he back-tracked, looking for the woman. Her raven was still circling before settling, and the sound of his wings beating had helped guide the young man to his teammate. He turned a corner and paused as he saw Cordelia ahead of him, walking in his direction. Clinging to one hand was a young girl. The NPC girl had a small nameplate hanging above her head - 'Missing Child' - so he'd been right. The girl had only appeared once the target enemies were slain.

 

"Hey there! Sorry, I couldn't see the tunnels and made a wrong turn." He grimaced slightly before offering a bright smile to the young girl, who hid behind Cordelia. He chuckled softly before looking at the woman. "Alright! Next part is to get her back safely, shouldn't be any harder than rescuing her in the first place, huh. Not that I was much help, heh." Ronnel rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he turned slightly to let Cordelia and the girl move back down the tunnel. While he hadn't been able to fight against the bats, he could at least maybe be a rear-guard in case anything tried to attack while they were leaving. 

But they hadn't gone too far into the caves before being attacked by the bats, so it wouldn't take very long for them to get back out, either. And despite how hated 'escort' missions were historically, at least this girl that they were taking back to her mother wasn't going too slowly, probably because she was still hanging onto Cordelia's hand.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia let out a small oof as she felt Pacco land back on her shoulder.

"When did you get so heavy. . ?" She mumbled, her brows furrowing as she watched Ronnel follow him back. Ever since Pacco had ranked up, he's gotten heavier and poofier. . . feather wise at least. She didn't mind it, though. Well, she did a bit. It felt like she was always carrying a huge rock on her shoulders, now. 

"It's fine, the darkness interfered with my vision a bit but it wasn't too much of a problem," she sniffed, equipping her haori. Thing is heavier than it looked, okay? 

"I doubt we would run into anything remotely dangerous so you don't really have much to worry about but if that's what you want, then okay," she shrugged, taking a glance at the NPC child before she tugged her forward. 

"There's plenty of light left in the day. I would usually suggest hunting in the upper floors. . . but considering your level, that's probably not the best choice at the moment. . ." she sighed, covering the side of her cheek with her free palm. 

[Ronnel 0]

"Not really, no. Just about everything up there would probably turn me to paste if I accidentally caught its Hate for some reason." Ronnel gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh and rubbed the back of his head. And there was no guarantee that whatever they fought, if they did go up there, would have its Hate assigned to Cordelia as things started. And all it would take was one thing deciding he made a more appetizing target and then - boom. No more worries. 

 

"Ah. Well, I don't know. Any chance you need to stock up on materials? These caves might be a good place to get minerals and ores if your profession is the kind to use them." It wasn't much - and considering her level the woman probably had long moved past the kind of stuff that could be found down here but - maybe not. Maybe she'd focused on combat and let her profession lag behind. 

 

And maybe later he could ask her for tips about the familiar quest. It looked she'd had a good result from it. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel
Spelling.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia hummed in agreement as she made her way out of the cave. "Yes. . . it's most likely not a very wise choice," she noted, laughing to herself as she stared straight ahead.

"Materials, huh," she mumbled, scratching her chin with her free hand. "I don't own a shop, much less have a profession. Keeping track of a shop is too much work for me. I'm much more focused on my power than helping others. . ." she laughed dryly. "Helping people isn't usually something I tend to do a lot. . ." She murmured, scratching at her cheek. "I didn't mean to come off as shallow but I guess that's just how I think?" She said, phrasing it more like a question than an actual statement. 

"Do you need any materials? I'd be glad to help you look for some, I don't think there's anything I can accomplish today with the amount of time I have left, so I might as well do something for the 'better good'," she sighed dramatically.

"Oh, we're here," Cordelia exclaimed, seeing that they had reached the town's gates already.

[Ronnel 0]

"There's nothing wrong with focusing on yourself, or your own power. I haven't thought that far ahead as to what I'd want to do with power if I had it, but I'm sure you have at this point." Ronnel chuckled and started leading the way through the city back towards where the two had last seen the NPC mother. 

 

"I know I've seen a lot of all the 'do this for everyone' stuff trying to encourage people to leave the town. Lemme tell ya - not a lick of it made a difference to me." He grimaced and rapped his knuckles on the side of his head. "So to each their own, everyone here has their own reason for pushing onwards." A wry smile twisted his lips as he gave her a jaunty little half-bow as they turned a corner. 

 

"That said? I would love it if you came to help me do some material searching or whatever we run across. I would rather not die after all." Lips parted as he laughed and shook his head. 

[Cordelia 0]

"I suppose so, huh," she hummed, her eyes glossing over for a brief second before they turned the corner.

"Alright." She gave him a small smile and looked up, seeing the NPC mother that they had seen earlier today. Cordelia glanced at the NPC child she was holding hands with and nudged her forward, which opted her to run into her mother's arms. Somehow the sight made her sad, but she didn't really think much more of it. 

She turned her heel and looked over at Ronnel. "Alright, let's start heading out, again," she chuckled, making her way to the town's exit, again.

"I don't know how much time we have left, but it'll be getting a bit dark soon, so let's just gather real quick and we'll go our separate ways, okay?" She asked, turning her head over her shoulder to look at him. "It sounds simple enough, right?"

[Ronnel 0]

"Search for a bit before the sun comes down. I honestly won't be too put out if we don't find much - we aren't exactly doing this as our primary goal for today." Ronnel followed a few feet along behind her as the two of them wound their way out of the city. Heading back out without the NPC child hanging onto Cordelia went a bit faster than the path in had been, so they made it to the exit within a few minutes. 

 

The path under their feet stretched out, flattening within a few meters as they left the city behind. The wildlands around them stretched out, grass swaying in the wind around them as the sun sank closer to the horizon. Ronnel stretched out his shoulders as they went, loosening some of the muscles that had been subconsciously tensing up. He didn't think they'd make it all the way back to the caves before nightfall, so they would probably end up searching for resources here in the grassy plains instead. 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia deadpanned.

Had she even searched for materials before? She's searched for caves. She's searched for a freaking lair that held a freaking ghost, but she's never search for some simple materials? 

The heck?

God, she was really bad at this. Maybe this is one of the reasons why she never wanted to establish a shop. That would make sense. Young Cordelia probably would've thought like that. Present Cordelia still thinks like that, and she's sure that future Cordelia would still think like that.

She'll just leave the crafting and all of that to Oscar. . . his shop seemed successful enough. He has a whole freaking mansion for Pete's sake. It's not like Col magically appeared in his inventory, right? Well, he was a pretty high rank. . . maybe that's why he had been pulling in so many customers. . . even if he only sells hotdogs.

"Er, how is it going over there?" She asked, turning her head to Ronnel. She hoped he was getting better luck than her.

ID: 132819

LD: 5, Fail

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel was humming a soft tune under his breath as he moved along a short distance from where Cordelia was currently holed up. He was a but torn on what he wanted to do with anything that he happened to find while they were finishing out the day - but maybe it was more important that he had them on hand in the first place. 

 

He blinked and turned his head as the glimmer of something caught his eye. One arm stretched out and his fingers dug into the ground slightly, the soil giving way to his probing touch. With a soft tug he pulled the thing up and out and turned it around a few times, then shook it clean. It was a small, unassuming, rough gem barely bigger than his pinky nail. 

 

The dark haired man turned his head as Cordelia called out to him, and he held up his hand. "So far, just the one. You?" 

 

 

 

Link ID: 132831

LD: 20 Success state

Edited December 28, 2019 by Ronnel

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia crouched over as a glint of light caught her eye.

She grimaced as her fingers brushed against the dirt, but grasped two fingers tightly around a hard object.

She sighed and stood up, examining the gem before she shrugged. “Same.”

”Sorry, I’m not much of a gatherer,” she chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish expression with her free hand. “I honestly don’t think I have ever gathered prior to today. So, this is a pretty good learning experience for me!” She exclaimed, an excited smile her face. Well, as excited as can be, really.

It still amazed her how people would choose having a profession and gathering over combat and getting stronger level wise.

Guess some people aren’t built for that life, huh? 

But then again, she didn’t know what they were thinking when they were literally booting up a sword fighting game.

ID: 132832

LD: 19, Success

Total Mats: 1

[Ronnel 0]

"Gathering is useful - crafting is. Without it we'd be stuck using whatever stuff dropped and could maybe get identified. Front line needs support to keep going after all, can't really be running around swinging a basic iron sword or something and expecting to be able to hang against the big guys." Ronnel chuckled as he started scanning the walls for any likely prospects. "While I do want to get stronger, I think I may pick a profession for myself soon. Always fighting seems like it would get too stressful, and being able to come back to a shop and just make instead of destroy sounds nice." His eyes narrowed as he spotted a glint on one wall. It was embedded into the wall, just barely shining in the weak light that was present.

Ronnel pulled his spear out and spun it around, so the butt of the spear was facing the wall. Then he rapped it against the wall several times, driving against it. Flakes of stone fell away, until finally a small gemstone popped loose and hit the ground. He scooped it up and rolled it back and forth between his fingers for a moment and chuckled. "Two for two - luck's on my side today, but I think it might be a good idea to call it quits while we're ahead and have both gotten something. Searching fruitlessly will just end up irritating us, right?" He tilted his head to one side and smiled at Cordelia slightly. 

 

Link ID: 132955

LD Result: 15, Success State +1 Material T1

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia chuckled, looking down at her katana. “Half of the year I use cane from an event,” she started, rubbing her cheek with a sheepish grin. “I suppose I can say I earned it though,” she shuddered, remembering the Halloween event. It was a dark time. “Over a hundred zombies killed and I had to fight a big ass scarecrow,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “I don’t know if it was worth it, but it has unique enhancements so I’m not complaining,” she giggled.

“Yeah, you’re right. I only collected one material and I’m already tired of gathering,” she said with a groan, tossing the gem over to him. “Here, you can keep it. I have no need for materials at the moment.” 

Cordelia tapped her wrist and pursed her lips. “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to get going now. I don’t usually stay up too long after the sun starts to go down,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

”Well, it’s been a real pleasure to meet you. Until we meet again, Ronnel!” She chirped, bowing her body halfway down before she gave him a wave.