[SP|F21] Chasing Shadows

[ChaseR 0]

Running over to Cerberus and then the Bandit Camp was alright on its own, but the revelation that Chase and NIGHT had come to once they were finished was… scary, to say the least. He didn’t know how to feel about it. It was still evening, as night began to slowly dawn over them, and Chase quickly bid NIGHT farewell before heading to the twenty first at his home. He’d told more than he should have to somebody that wasn’t even her, and… to think that he got fooled this way. He could swear nothing, nothing was off. That had to be her and there was no other way of going about it.

He felt slightly betrayed, by both himself and whoever he’d talked to. The fact that people could possess a skill like that, and use it that way… That was as unforgivable as any other atrocity that Kayaba had imposed onto these poor souls, trapped in this world of wonders and tormented for god knows how long.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 38
HP: 760/760
EN: 76/76

Stats:
Damage: 14
Mitigation: 18
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Gust Raiser>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): DMG II, ACC I
Armor: <<Wind Dweller>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I, REC II
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 4]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Spyglass (2/3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (2/3)*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:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

As soon as he got to his house, he began to look around paranoid, having entered the courtyard of his estate. He couldn’t hear anything, nor could he see anything out of the ordinary around him. With a deep sigh of relief, he quickly entered the main hall and looked around, until he heard light footsteps heading his way. As far as he remembered, the house was built in a safezone, so nothing could attack him at least.

Thankfully, it was his blue, frostscale pangolin that emerged from the side of the staircase, running towards Chase to hug him. With another deep exhale, he took the mammal into his hands and dropped back on his rear, hugging it tightly and nuzzling it. Blizz helped relief him of his stress, at least a fair bit. If any harm were to befall Chase or Shay, he already knew that his familiar would jump in the way and prevent it from killing, hurting or doing anything to the ones that the boy loved, let alone himself.

[ChaseR 0]

“Blizz… I’ll go rest for a moment, okay..? You can stay with me, in a bedroom. We have a place to call home now.”, he told him with a melancholic smile, as tears of relief appeared on the corners of his eyes. He just realised that finally, he had a safeplace- Sanctuary. Somewhere to sleep at calmly, with as much comfort as he wished. He and Shay could customize the house however they pleased after all, if they felt something was off.

With that, the boy got up, keeping Blizz in his hug who seemed to want to tag along with his companion. That was certainly a relief. He’d message Shay as soon as he’d rested just slightly. Thankfully, he didn’t have to lock the doors as that would automatically happen- theoretically, the system was in charge of keeping unauthorized players from interacting with objects they don’t possess- Chase’s house included. There was no way to grant oneself those permissions after all.

[ChaseR 0]

A quick nap was all he needed to snap out of it and regain his composure. His mental state wasn’t any better, and he couldn’t get to the bottom of this in his current condition. As soon as he arrived to his bedroom in the attic, he made sure to keep all windows closed and all curtains pulled. He just needed to stay alone, where nobody could see him even if they tried. That was the only thing that could get him back to feeling safe.

Laying back on his new bed, he closed his eyes and fell into deep sleep. Or so he thought, until he heard something creaking from the floors below. Some wooden plank. It was probably going to be in the third or second story of the estate… He got up, seeing Blizz already curled up by his chair to the side. The boy slowly began to walk down the staircase, keeping his fists clenched just in case someone had managed to sneak inside of his own home.

[ChaseR 0]

“Is anybody here?”, he asked out, not expecting an answer. And although not verbally, he did get an answer in the form of what sounded like steps. Maybe he was getting too paranoid, but… He couldn’t just ignore it and keep on acting like nothing had happened. He summoned his sword from his inventory and held it in his hands with the sheathe still on, not wanting to wound anybody that happened to get attacked by him- at least not to the point of slashing them on accident if he were to jump from surprise.

He slowly explored the third story, some of the empty rooms being more dim and dark than the others. The planks all seemed in place, as they should be… Cardinal, as Freyd had called it, was supposed to be keeping everything in check, unlike the real world. It was hard for buildings to be dispositioned or have faulty structures when they were made using specific parameters from the game. “This just isn’t my day…”, he muttered lowly to himself, continuing his investigation quietly.

[ChaseR 0]

As he reached the final room of the third floor that was unfinished, just like all the rest, he furrowed his eyebrows at his discovery. Nothing, implying that nobody had been sneaking around. But the noises he heard among the darkness were very real. He then heard some quick steps behind him, swiftly making his way outside of the room and looking at the staircase to see a cloaked figure running straight down to the second story. He quickly followed behind, growling at them. “Stay right where you are..!”

But his command was ignored in full. The intruder appeared to be so fast that they disappeared before Chase could catch up. Probably somewhere around the floor. He didn’t want to and wouldn’t use lethal force no matter what, but the situation was making his heart race faster and faster the more it dragged on. Now he was certain that he and Blizz weren’t alone, although he had no clue who the perpetrator could even be at this point. Why would somebody want him this much..?! And did this mean that they had gotten to Shay already?

[ChaseR 0]

He quickly hid inside one of the second floor’s rooms and opened up his menu, going to the messages and trying to text Shay if she was alright. The only thing that he saw however, began to worry him. The message had failed to send. Either this intruder could somehow cut off his contact with anybody else, or Shay was… He quickly shook his head at the thought, deciding that he’d head by the fourth and check her in a moment.

First, he had to capture whoever this was and find out what exactly they were doing in his home. He could probably turn them in to NIGHT and she would handle it from there on out. He began looking through the rooms on the second story all the same, keeping his eyes open wide and scanning all over the walls, the floor, the empty cardboard boxes all around that filled the rooms. “Wherever you are, come out! I know you’re here!”

[ChaseR 0]

With another creak behind him, he quickly turned. He could swear he heard a laughter just fading away into complete silence, but… nothing. Nobody was there, and nobody seemed to have been there. He turned back around to see some boxes having been pushed around slightly, moving a hand to hold his head and gripping it tightly. “S-Someone is fucking with me… Just come out where I can see you already!”, he snarled once more, looking towards the exit and slowly making his way outside of the room.

There had to be some way they were doing this… Some form of a skill, and not a unique one. There was no way that the only person looking into Unique Skills gets targeted not only by anybody, but by a Unique Skill user on top of it all. It just didn’t add up any, and he knew it all too well.

[ChaseR 0]

He moved on to the other side of the floor, seeing a light by the end of the next room than the empty one he was inside of. He slowly took steps on over, peeking inside the second kitchen to see a candle lit on the cupboard. “A candle..? I didn’t have any… So it must be that player or whatever they are..!”, he quickly concluded and dashed right inside, ready to slam his blade into the first person he found, but…

Nobody was there. And just like that, the fire on the top of the candle went out, letting darkness take over again. They continued to toy with him the same way that Kayaba did during those two unforgettable missions. If this was another one of his creations, there was no way he was going to forgive him- he’d run out of patience all too quickly. He tried to stop the negativity from taking over and with a deep breath, looked behind him to see a silhouette quickly come out of his sight and hide behind the wall.

[ChaseR 0]

He exited the room with a downward slash right where he saw the shadow hiding, but he struck nothing, stopping his blade just before it hit the floor. With a groan, he noticed a pair of red eyes looking at him from the room’s exit before disappearing again. This was starting to get on his nerves more than ever, but there was little he could do. How long had it been since he started investigating either way? It felt like hours, but it had been five or so minutes, at most.

Five more and he’d have been through the entire house. Especially in his home territory, it was hard to be at a disadvantage. If he needed to fight, he could do it, no matter how strong they were. Blizz would assist him, too, if need be. He exited towards the staircase again and heard steps only descending further and further. They didn’t seem to be on the first floor, so that could only mean one thing- the basement. Just like every cliche horror movie, this gave him bad vibes. “... They’re really pushing it this far… They’re cornered now.”

[ChaseR 0]

He slowly began to walk up the ladder, looking around the first floor’s main hall and few rooms to see nobody. Nothing had been moved about, nor did he hear any sounds from inside. Having picked up the tracking mod would definitely help him with this, but he hadn’t, and that’s what mattered. Each step down towards the basement made his stress levels increase again as his heart beat faster, eventually arriving to see it lit properly.

The lights had somehow been turned on, which means he must have forgotten to turn them off. He could see that happening, thinking about this calmly, in his rush to not leave the quest for SP hanging. Then again, the doppelganger from that quest must be creeping around here. A thud was all he needed to direct his attention towards the end of the room, only to see one of the books having fallen off from his shelves.

[ChaseR 0]

With quiet steps, he kept his guard up and approached it, only to see that it was his book on skills. He’d just copied and pasted some information over from his menus onto it so that he could keep a little ‘database’ of every skill possible in the game, but he’d need help filling it up sooner or later. A bookmark was somewhere around the end of the list, by the Armor Skills and right above the Extra Skills section.

Chase quickly skimmed through it to read nothing out of the ordinary. Everything in there he remembered to have written, save some mods he didn’t and still doesn’t know about. Clacks could be heard behind him as he turned and caught something with the corner of his eyes, quickly dropping the book and moving both hands to his blade to block the incoming strike from what seemed like another two-handed broadsword. The exact same weapon type that he and NIGHT used, as well as her doppelganger.

[ChaseR 0]

“Y-You… Take off that darn cloak!”, he snarled at them even more, unable to see any facial characteristics other than two red eyes through the darkness of their hood and cloak. Their body wasn’t visible any either, except for their hands. He couldn’t tell anything from that alone though. Pushing slightly against their blade, he managed to knock them back and regained his composure, moving circular to them in order to get to an opening. Right now, if he got pushed into the library, that’d be enough to compromise his position and get him killed.

Even in here, a safezone, he could be attacked after all… This was making increasingly less sense, but it was very, very real. “Won’t you say anything?!”, the bluehead continued to ask as he was tormented further, having gritted his teeth tightly and waiting for an answer of sorts. Even a cackle, a laugh would be enough to satisfy him. He couldn’t bear the thought of another NPC being at the helm for this intrusion and attack to him.

[ChaseR 0]

Although he kept his eyes on them all this time, after a blink they were quickly gone. Suddenly, he could feel a kick right to his back and before he knew it, he was pinned down, being pushed against one of the bookcases with his hair grasped tightly. A small sting could be felt on his shoulder as the intruder’s blade penetrated it just slightly, still toying with the boy. “Look harder.”, he heard a faint voice, but couldn’t make out who it was. He hadn’t met them before, and it wasn’t like a single voice either.

It reminded him of a mix of many, his own, NIGHT’s, Shay’s, Ariel’s, Freyd’s… All so different yet they blended in perfectly with that exact line. With a growl, he ran his elbow back and felt like he hit the intruder, finally being let go of and turning around. His broadsword was thrown further by the side, and they were nowhere to be seen.

[ChaseR 0]

The red gash on his shoulder was very much real however. With a deep breath, the bluehead quickly rolled to the side and grabbed hold of his sword, turning around only to see the person that had disguised themselves as NIGHT raise his hand up with the sword still there, slashing right down at him. The pain he felt was sharp, incredibly much so- but then it struck him. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up from his bed, covered in cold sweat as he looked down at his chest to see no wound.

It appeared to have been just a nightmare, and as horrible as it was… Maybe this was what would ultimately help him get to the bottom of this. The pain he felt, the intrusions, the overhaul of mechanics to fit its narrative… If he wanted to get behind Unique Skills, he had to solve this little mystery first. It must have been hours ever since he fell asleep as his head still felt rather heavy, but now he knew where to look.

[ChaseR 0]

“This can’t have been a unique skill after all! I know it… In the dream, I looked at my library. The answer has to be there.”, he thought, remembering back to the book he’d filled with all of the skills in the game. He quickly ran downstairs into his basement and turned on the lights, which unlike in the nightmare were turned off, heading for the very same bookcase. He then slid the book out of it, taking a seat on one of the sofas and starting to read through it quietly. 

Everything seemed normal, and nothing hinted at the skill that he assumed was at play here. Something to let others temporarily alter their appearance to suit their needs. Not an item like the gender-altering potion that he was on with Shay, neither a Unique Skill. Something widely available to all the players. With nothing in the Utility, Combat, Weapon or Armor category, he had only a single final choice to turn to if he wanted to know the answer.

[ChaseR 0]

Flipping the page over to the final and mostly blank category, the Extra Skills, he skimmed through them to find nothing. These were especially tricky as most needed to be unlocked, like Survival and the Familiar Mastery, but then it struck him. He might have filled in the conditions for one during some of these quests. In a desperate attempt this would lead him anywhere, he silently went over to his menu and opened up the skills tab, scrolling down to the extras to find…

“Since when do I..?”, he muttered to himself and noticed a skill he’d never seen before. “... Disguise..?”, he mumbled its name under his breath with furrowed eyebrows, checking out its details. It appeared after the Gemini quest, but he never scrolled down that low ever since, so it made sense he hadn’t seen it. “So this is here because I killed the Gemini..? Does that mean I..?”

[ChaseR 0]

It was then that it struck him, the quest probably had multiple ways of being finished. Be it through killing the Gemini or letting them live, somehow. Whatever the case, he had to find out exactly what the skill did. Clicking it, he activated it and managed to disguise himself to look just like Freyd- a few details were off, but the overall appearance was there. He got up and walked to the living room, looking at his reflection in the window as his eyes widened. “S-So it wasn’t a potion, nor an NPC… It was another two-handed sword user like us…”

After that revelation, he silently headed back to his basement and sat by the coffee table, placing the book down there and adding the new information he found out about Disguise onto it. As he closed the book and let it stay on the coffee table for a moment, he opened up his menu and leaned back on his sofa, going to his messages. He shot Shay a quick message, to check if she was fine. This time, it went through normally. That was certainly a relief.

[ChaseR 0]

There was nothing to be worried about anymore. Bistro, or whatever she was called, could definitely help Chase out and give him a hand. As he opened up a new conversation, he entered her name in the recipient slot and quietly began typing out a message for her.

ChaseR: I want to talk to you about a few things. I hear you know much. ChaseR: Where is your shop on the first? It’s important. I’m a friend of NIGHT’s.

 

That should do well enough, he thought. Closing up his menu again, he let out a deep sigh and ran his hands through his hair, hoping that it wouldn’t be long after he talked with both NIGHT and Bistro about his findings that he’d be able to find peace in knowing who did it and what they wanted out of him. There was little they could do with the information he’d granted after all, especially since this was in a safezone. The worst would be being followed, but he was planning on raising his Searching if that were the case. He could always pack a teleport crystal along his normal battle inventory and that would be the end of that. Then again, he’d rather not live with the constant fear that he was getting stalked by someone or preyed upon all this time.

[ChaseR 0]

While he expected a response from the informant, he put the book back in its place and headed back to the attic. He found Blizz curled up near the bed, unlike in the dream, asleep and resting just fine where his owner was during his nightmare. Chase smiled and pet his head lightly, trying his best to not wake him up while expressing his affection for the pangolin all the same. Kayaba had made a lot of choices, good and bad. He created a whole new world for humans to experience, with its own rules.

Part of that world some resented and others loved and truly lived in, was Blizz. Grace too. These familiars were as much Kayaba’s creations as the horrible ones were too. Death was imposed on all, and as soon as their health dropped to zero that meant they’d never see the light of day again. This gave the bluehead mixed feelings, but… It’d be best to just let the thought be. No longer deny or accept it. Just deal with it and move on. He’d been stuck up with this much too long, and this skill was an extension of said thoughts. It was time to move forward.

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• 2 SP (1 page, 1 event)
• 400 Col

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by ChaseR