[SP|F1] <<Let There Be Light>> Solitude

[ChaseR 0]

Chase had just entered the second floor, curious as to what it'd look like. He was surprised to see, from the teleport plaza in the center of the town, just how many mountains stood tall over the walls. "So from fields to mountains... Looks natural so far. The season seems to be the same. I wonder if there's a snowy floor somewhere..? I think Shay had said the fourth one was covered in snow.", he thought, getting sidetracked but eventually shrugging it off.

As he decided to walk down the shopping district and be done with it, he noticed someone running towards him. He almost instinctively took a defensive stance and moved his hand to the hilt of his weapon, gritting his teeth. The NPC slowed down, looking like a woman and looking at Chase, her face filled with worry. The bluehead slowly went back to his normal stance, moving his hand down again and groaning. "I've gotta get over that habit... Tch...", he thought to himself, listening to the woman speak. She made a request to him.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 10
HP: 200/200
EN: 20/20

Stats:
Damage: 8
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Cloud Cutter>> (T1/Perfect/2HSS): DMG III
Armor: <<Sky Blue Apparel>> (T1/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I; REC II
Misc: <<Warm Earmuffs>> (T1/Perfect/Trinket): ACC III

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 2]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*5
Field Rations*1
Immolation Potion*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

"Your daughter?", he asked her with furrowed eyebrows, frowning slightly. Even if she was an NPC, she looked and acted all too real. He couldn't just leave her like that, even if he was in danger by going out to help her, if it meant stepping away from the safezone. "Please, you have to help me! She was playing in the caverns by the mountains with a friend, but monsters attacked... Her friend managed to get away, but... She's still somewhere out there, please! You're an adventurer, I'll give you Col in return, just please find her!"

The woman's erratic speech and behavior was enough to convince Chase. As odd as he could be when talking with others for the first time, he knew just how she felt. If anything, the Col was not what convinced him to take up her request. As he gave her a nod and asked her to mark on his map where the cave was, he saw the notification stating he'd accepted the quest. "So this is a scripted event..? Still, what if you can fail the mission? I should get going, damn it..."

[ChaseR 0]

He waved at the woman after reassuring her that he'd bring her kid back alive, running towards the exit of the town and stopping right before going through. He opened his menu, checking at his level and health. Even checking his equipped items to make sure they provided at the very least, some protection, he made sure to have some potions at the ready if things got bad. "I shouldn't be doing this, especially after my promise to Shay. I can barely handle a weapon, but..."

With a deep breath, he exited the safezone and began to head on over to the marked location on the map. "Sorry Shay. I won't die, I promise.", he finished his thoughts, carefully beginning to make his way on over. While walking through the grasslands, he could see just how detailed Aincrad truly was. It wasn't just the first floor he'd only seen up to now. Some paths got narrower, some others had a river flowing past them, and everything looked just like they would in the real world.

[ChaseR 0]

The environment, the Elks and Foxes he could see by the side further into the woods he was trying to find a way around... All of them looked and acted so real, wandering around, playing with one another or even feeding on the grass, by the looks of it. "I can only imagine what SAO would have been like if Kayaba hadn't trapped us here. Why would you corrupt a world like this..? I have to clear the game. I'm sure everybody has the same questions too.", he finished with a disappointed sigh.

The motives behind Kayaba's actions were perfectly unclear, and now that he'd experienced the world for himself and had some alone time without resting or doing anything else that vital, he could ponder and trouble himself like this. "This is enough motivation to clear the game already, no wonder there's so many strong people in the frontlines... I'll be getting there too, soon. I can't waste more time sitting idly.", the boy finished, making sure to avoid any nearby monsters' detection radius on his way to the cave. 

[ChaseR 0]

While making his way towards the cave, the boy made sure to avoid all monsters nearby. He could see some even fighting by themselves amongst one another, a deer and a wolf to be more specific, but he tried to leave them at it and go by unnoticed. Of course, he did it, but that meant he'd have to take a more roundabout route to the cave. Beginning to approach it and even seeing the mountain it was located on, he took a deep breath and followed the path leading to its entrance. "Two kids playing this far out... It makes sense they'd be in danger from monsters."

Especially NPCs, who were created to live in this world, they should have assumed that it'd be dangerous to play this far, with monsters around and whatnot. Then again, that begged the question whether NPCs have intelligence of their own, or if they're there just for the scripted events. "W-Wait... The monsters fight too, but... That means they must have 'intelligence' of some sort, right..? Otherwise, nobody would die. They'd have a pattern to stick to, they wouldn't adapt. T-Tch, thinking about it won't help. I'll fight them as if they're intelligent and figure out on my way back."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase finally reached the end of the path, standing outside of the cave and taking a deep breath as he set his hand on his <<Cloud Cutter>> and took it out of its sheathe. He pushed his earmuffs just slightly further away from his ear, letting him hear more clearly in case something were to approach him. "They got attacked while playing, so that must mean monsters reside inside of the cave, too. It's dark. It's very dark. I will be able to see, but not as well as out here. I don't have a choice though, so I'll just make sure to be super careful."

He prepared himself mentally, closing his eyes to take a deep breath before opening them, wearing a much more determined look on his face this time around. "Just wait for me. I won't take much longer, I promise.", the bluehead thought, hoping that the little girl was still safe. With that, he entered the cave and did his best not to make any noise other than his steps, splashing against the damp cave's ground. The cave was overall fairly humid, although Chase could feel it in the air as soon as he entered.

[ChaseR 0]

He slowly went in deeper and deeper in the cave, keeping his sword low. He had to be mindful of his surroundings, as he hadn't fought in such a closed space before. Being attacked could take him by surprise, for sure, so the one mistake he shouldn't make was start swinging wildly. He'd risk hitting the cave's ceiling, which would mean bad news for him, most likely taking an attack if not disarming himself just like that. 

The cave went on quite a bit, and it seemed to be rather empty. Even if there was a monster here, it was so dark he couldn't tell them apart. They were probably blending in with the darkness, or somewhere in a small hole on the cave's walls. Truth be told, he really couldn't notice the bats hanging by the cave's ceiling on the stalagmites, their fur too dark for him to distinguish unless they began to fly. Their red eyes would definitely alert him and glow enough to make them an easy target- perhaps a system balance to make fighting in the caves less unfair.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase's pace began to pick up as soon as he heard something deeper inside the cave, perking up and running towards it carelessly. That was certain to make quite a bit of noise, let alone paired with the echo of being in such a small space. The closer and closer he got, he could hear whimpering, sure it was a kid from far away. "Kid, stay there. I'm on my way!", he shouted, knowing this would certainly attract some attention. He'd never act like this in real life, so... Why would he here?

He didn't have time to even ponder that. All he knew was that something had sparked inside of him. Since a kid was in danger, and he had a sword and the ability to fight, he'd do exactly that for the kid's sake. NPC or not, it was a child in danger all the same to him. As he approached it more and more, he could hear something screeching and approaching from the distance, gulping. "Fuck, something's coming! I should keep my guard up."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase began to get closer and closer to the crying child, running as fast as he could. He almost let go of his sword to reach out to it once its silhouette began to come into sight, hearing flapping from behind him. It was coming from a bat that was following him, having been awoken by all of the noise he was making. With a growl, he turned and halted, gripping his sword firmly and sliding back slightly as he took a battle-ready stance. He looked over his shoulder, instructing the kid. "Hide behind me. They won't get through. I'll get you out of here, okay?"

Before the kid had any time to respond, Chase took a deep breath, focusing his eyes on the bat in front of him. The sword in his hands began to glow yellow, before he ran forwards. With a shout, he used his sword art, slashing at the bat from various directions, one on top of the other. What he didn't notice, was that due to the cave's darkness, he didn't quite hit the bat. Taking advantage of the miss, the bat quickly slipped past him and took a bite, dealing damage to him with a stinging effect before flying back to distance itself. "Th-The hell?! Keep your focus, damn it..!"

ChaseR | HP: 179/200 (-21) | EN: 18/20 (-2) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 50/50 | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Chase kept his composure, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer before he could get the kid and make it out of here. All he had to do was not fail this time. And thus, he braced himself and took another shot at the same sword art, repeating the movements like he did before but this time putting even more energy into his movements. The results showed this time, as he slashed it four times, the red glow of each wound making it a much clearer target than it was before.

The bat itself faltered the next time that it tried to attack, having been hurt too quickly to recover right after. That gave Chase some space to reposition himself, as a grin began to creep up his face and he switched his stance up a little, to use a different sword skill. The glow faded from the sword, as he looked back at the child with a reassuring smile before turning to the monster once more.

ChaseR | HP: 179/200 | EN: 12/20 (-7, +1) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 14/50 (-36) | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Ready to finish the battle, Chase focused all his strength on his arms and heel, his sword glowing red as he was trying to balance himself by pivoting on it and beginning to spin furiously, although within his control so as not to hit the cave's walls or the child. The bat got slashed multiple times, crying out in pain before dropping to the ground and disappearing into tiny little shards. He stopped spinning, ready to sheathe his sword before hearing something else approach from the distance.

"T-Tch, I must have made way too much noise... Stay back for a while longer, kid!", he instructed, determined to take this one on too. He had enough energy to finish it off, and enough health to not be in danger. All he had to do was make sure the hits landed, and then he could scoop the kid up and be done with it. The bat's figure approached more and more, closing the distance between them as he raised his sword once more.

ChaseR | HP: 179/200 | EN: 9/20 (-4, +1) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 14/50 (-14) | DMG: 20
Giant Bat 2 | HP: 50/50 | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Cooldowns: Lightning Stun; 2 turns

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

With the second bat now approaching, Chase's blade began to glow red once more as he used the same sword art as before. Having grown tired and feeling his body heavier from the lack of energy, he put less strength in the move but still got rather good results regardless. The monster's HP dropped by a fair bit nonetheless, and damage was damage no matter how you looked at it. With it below half health too, he got excited before seeing it approach to attack- an attack which sadly, he couldn't dodge.

"My HP dropped again... It doesn't hurt though. What's scary is that death's approaching for every hitpoint dropped...", he thought, watching the bat go back once more and taking a deep breath as he held his blade up above his head, ready to dice the bat into pieces with his next attack so he could return the kid back to her mother.

ChaseR | HP: 159/200 (-20) | EN: 6/20 (-4, +1) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 0/50 | DMG: 20
Giant Bat 2 | HP: 18/50 (-32) | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Cooldowns: Lightning Stun; 1 turn

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Chase's mind began to get clouded with thoughts of what could happen in the worst case, but he shook them off and focused on the battle again. He had no choice but to win, after all. "I won't die here, or at all. So no point in dwelling over it. I've got to get back to Shay, just like this kid has to get back to his mother. And then... When we clear this, to Lily too."

He used his sword art, slashing diagonally two times from opposite directions as if in an 'x' before giving an upward slash, but he miscalculated the distance once more. "F-Focus damn it!", he shouted accidentally, seeing the bat come in and try to attack him. However, this time the bluehead managed to jump back fast enough to dodge the attack, grinning and regaining his composure. "Let's finish this already."

ChaseR | HP: 159/200 | EN: 7/20 (-2, +3) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 0/50 | DMG: 20
Giant Bat 2 | HP: 18/50 | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

The boy did his best to empty his mind from all thought, focusing on the battle only. All he could see with his intense focus was himself, and his opponent. He raised his hands above his head as if to make the same movement as before, with his blade glowing to light the darkness. "I won't miss. Not now.", he thought before letting his body move on its own, slashing with all his might until the bat got hit thrice, a huge 'x' on its chest from the cuts before a vertical slash finished it.

It got thrown slightly higher in the air, crying before turning into crystals and disappearing. Chase then sheathed his sword, hearing noone else around and grinning at the kid behind him. "Hey, little girl. Let's go outside. Your mother's waiting for you.", he told the girl, holding his hand out as she took it and heading for the exit. He'd told her to keep her voice down so no other monsters would approach, and just like that, they got outside of the cave safe and sound.

ChaseR | HP: 159/200 | EN: 5/20 (-3, +1) | DMG: 8 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2
Giant Bat 1 | HP: 0/50 | DMG: 20
Giant Bat 2 | HP: 0/50 (-18) | DMG: 20

Environmental effect: All rolls -1

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Once they stepped outside of the cave, the boy stretched and looked behind him to make sure the child was safe and sound. Her HP bar didn't seem to have really dropped any, so she must have hidden before any monster could really get an attack on her. Thankfully, she hadn't attracted anything while hiding inside of there either. "Come on. Your mother's worried sick.", he continued, realising just how softly he was talking to the NPC. Despite her not even being a real human, his fight or flight instinct kicked in when it came to protecting her.

Truth be told, it never even crossed his mind that he was fully out of character until now, although that wouldn't change anything. He took the girl by the hand and began to make his way back on over, taking it at a slower pace right now and trying to cut the kid some slack. That, paired with how he'd spent a fair bit of his energy, literally and stat-wise, and it was the perfect chance to get some rest after having finished a solo quest like that.

[ChaseR 0]

It hadn't truly sunk in just how much he'd managed to do even without Shay around to handhold him through the quest, rushing out to save a villager and even bringing her back safe after engaging in combat with monsters in a dark area too. It was a lot, for a newbie that barely learned how to play the game like Chase. "... I should apologise to Shay for putting myself in danger like that. I hope she understands...". He didn't feel so bad for putting himself in danger, as he did for leaving the fields without Shay.

Although he normally wouldn't get so stuck up over it, he had made a promise with the person who taught him he wasn't a coward, and he wasn't going to become a hero anytime soon either. She helped him face the reality of this world, and keeping his promise to her as much as possible was the least that he could do. "I'll try not to get caught up in any more mischief on this floor, just go windowshopping to see what the merchant district is like and that's it."

[ChaseR 0]

The village started getting closer and closer into view, which only relieved Chase more. The sooner he got back in town, the sooner he was in the confines of a safezone once more, which meant the less he'd put himself in harm's way. "Come on, just a while longer. Keep up the pace.". He was quite excited to return, mostly because this didn't feel like a quest he'd finish for the sake of progressing. This felt much less like a scripted event and more like a real occurrence.

Any mother in the real world would act just the same when losing her child, and in a world like this where monsters could be threatening it anywhere outside the town... It didn't take much thought before he'd kicked into action just because of that. Maybe that's why he felt bad though, too. Putting himself in danger without any second thoughts. Although he did check his gear, he didn't even as much as send a message to Shay letting her know in advance. "I'm most likely being paranoid, snap out of it already. What's done is done, and you made it back home."

[ChaseR 0]

Ten more minutes of awkward silence and the kid was back to the village, alongside the bluehead. They began to head to the teleport plaza, where he'd received the quest from, looking for the mother once they got there. She was nowhere in sight, which caused the boy to frown and start thinking about the worst possible outcome- of course, that was all before he heard shoes clacking his way and saw the mother approaching, tears in her eyes before she took the kid in her hug.

"Well... All's well that wends well.", the bluenette comforted himself, watching the reunion of the mother and daughter until the NPC turned his way. She thanked him deeply, handing over a bag of Col as compensation for the request. Honestly, that part he had completely forgotten from the get-go. "Huh... Thanks.", he awkwardly blurted out and gave a small smile, waving them off whilst they seemed to head back towards their house. Or at least so he thought, that's what it looked like to him.

[ChaseR 0]

With the quest having finished, he decided to give the shopping district as intended when he first set foot on the floor, a final look. He probably wouldn't end up buying anything, but he wanted to see what players had made up their minds on setting shop in the further up floors that he hadn't really accessed yet, starting with this one. While walking, he just thought about the whole flooring system for the game. It felt like a surprise that he was able to teleport up here after all.

Just because a few players had killed the floor boss on the first floor, whatever it could have looked like, everyone's teleporter destination for the second was unlocked just like that. It was a unique idea for a game that motivated all to work together, for a safer clear, but... Obviously not enough so that the frontlines were packed with players. On the contrary, the death involved wasn't a joke or even a mechanic at this point. They were forced to be fully immersed in this world, or else they'd be left useless in the Town of Beginnings to die in a ditch.

[ChaseR 0]

With a shake of his head, he tried to push the thoughts away and focus back on the task at hand, remembering that he was still holding onto the pouch of Col that the mother had just handed him over. Opening it, he took a look inside and smiled at the money. He didn't care, but... Seeing as his labor bore fruit beyond just the joy of seeing the two reunite was just as rewarding.

"There can't be many missions like that, but from here on out, I'm hopefully not taking them on by myself. Speaking of which...", he pocketed the Col away and opened his menu up, going to his friends tab to message his partner with a small smile. "A-Actually, I'll explain from nearby... Yeah, much better.". And with that, Chase started heading on over to the teleport plaza.

Rewards:

400 Col + 25*13 = 725 Col
4 SP (1 Event, 2 Quest, 1 Page)

Edited July 1, 2020 by ChaseR