[PP|F23] <<Search and Rescue>> Back at it Again

[ChaseR 0]

<<Search and Rescue>>

With a short while having passed since they last quested together, Chase made sure to shoot Alkor a message. Though it wasn't a quest that he had attempted once before, it was a quest that he knew they would be able to take on together. Little did he know the amount of luck involved, but, enough fourth wall breaks. And with a blip, the message was sent his way. Nothing too complicated or out of the ordinary. An invitation to quest up in the twenty third.

ChaseR: There's a quest in the 23rd. Wanna go? ChaseR: I'll be waiting at the teleporter. It's gonna be easy, free SP.

And now was time to play the waiting game. With his armor donned and his half-broken blade hanging by his waist, he headed right for the teleporter before finding himself waiting in the Underdark. "He shouldn't take long if he decides to come along.", he nodded to himself and waited quietly with crossed arms, tapping his foot on the ground quietly. 

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 75
HP: 1530/1530
EN: 150/150

Stats:
Damage: 19
Mitigation: 43
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
BH:76
VAMP DEF:76
PARA:1
HLY:12
HLY BLS:16
LD:5

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Fragmented Blade>> (T3/Perfect/2HSS): PARA I, HOLY II
Armor: <<Azure Overcoat>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): V.DEF I, HBS I, MIT I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Demonic/Trinket): EVA II, ACC II

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 4]
Charge [Rank 5]
Hiding [Rank 2]
Parry [Obtained]
Extended Mod Limit [Obtained]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise
Meditation

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics
Sprint & Acrobatics
Ferocity
Focused Howl



Battle Ready Inventory:
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III)*1
Woodland Armor (T3/Perfect) MIT III (1/3)*1
Teleport Crystal [F21]*1
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery)*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:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
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 (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching 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
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring:

ChaseR: HP: 1530/1530 | EN: 150/150 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | HOLY: 12 | PARA: 9-10 | BH: 76 | V.(DEF): 76 | HBS: 16 | LD: 5

Edited November 16, 2020 by ChaseR

[Alkor 0]

Alkor hoped that Chase didn't expect him to be super prompt. There was something about getting up and ready to go that made the man lag, hard. Early morning quests were the worst kind because Thom had never been a morning person. Still, he'd committed to it when he woke up and groggily saw the message above his head.

Aincrad didn't have the decency to wait until you got out of bed to show you those. Alkor muttered something about how Cardinal was more of a bitch than his mother as he crawled out of the bed and equipped all of his clothing. Since he was going to be questing, he would shower afterward. Might as well work up a sweat first.

He hoofed it to the teleporter and called out the command, then appeared in a flash of silvery light only a few steps from the other man. "Sorry I'm late. I was still in bed," he explained.

Alkor level 

45

920/920 HP

100/100 Energy

Damage: 14 Accuracy: 4 Evasion: 3 | Mitigation: 12 | Blight 24

Blightsteel [T2 Demonic Curved Sword] 2 Damage /1 Blight /Cursed | Cloak of the Wandering Warrior [T2 Perfect Light Armor] 3 Evasion | Eye of Horus [T1 Perfect Trinket] 3 Accuracy

Rank 5 CS | Rank 3 LA | Athletics | Precision | Ferocity | Finesse | Energist | Extended Mod Limit 

Survival | Familiar Mastery (Fighter) Rank 3

[ChaseR 0]

Even if Chase wasn't expecting it, it had been a while before Alkor actually showed up. Looking at the teleporter as soon as he appeared, Chase let out a small sigh and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, having been let down by his own expectations. Whatever, at least he was here anyways. 

"It's alright. Been holding up well?", the bluehead asked Alkor as he fixed the new sword on his hip, groaning and looking at the menu he opened really quickly before closing it once more. "... I'll give it to him halfway through the quest, I suppose.", he thought in the back of his head as he began to get moving towards the NPC they were to talk to, waiting for a response from Thom silently. Despite the little quests that he had done in the meantime, Chase himself had gotten a lot of levels- but the same could be said for Alkor. it's a shame that didn't really show unless it came to combat though, the game would be so much easier if you could gauge someone's power just from giving them a good look for two seconds. "You've been questing?"

[Alkor 0]

"I have, yeah," Alkor confirmed. 

"Sorry it took so long, I was just waking up when you sent the message. It takes a bit for me to get going." He wasn't the type to make excuses for himself and he knew that wasn't going to win him any favors, but it was worth saying. He liked Chase well enough to at least give the guy a legitimate reason for being late. "I've gained a few levels and made some adjustments to my skills. Ideally, I won't be completely useless this time around," he said with a laugh, and yet he was more serious than he cared to admit.

"Its been a bit since we last teamed up. Gives me the impression you've been pretty busy yourself, am I wrong?" The guy was abrasive, so Alkor anticipated a blunt response like 'of course.' He was a little direct and didn't seem like the type who understood sarcasm well, so he doubted he'd get anything like that. Still, he braced himself for it. 

"I'm almost back to the point where I can join the Frontlines again. Just a few more levels," he added. "Not gonna lie, it's gonna be nice to see a bunch of the people who probably still think I'm dead," he grinned.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase silently looked at Alkor with an awkward grin as he turned to look to the side and scratched the back of his head silently. "It's okay, don't worry. But you're not useless. Your sword is keeping you back. It has a lower damage output than two handers and the sword arts are weaker to boot. At least that's what I've noticed with my database.", he tried to explain, genuinely finding Alkor to have helped him a fair bit in the past few quests, even if it didn't show all that much.

"As for me, I've... kept doing quests. Yeah.", he blurted out and went back to rubbing his neck awkwardly. While the two had quested before and knew what to expect of one another, it definitely felt somewhat awkward to be talking again after a few days of no contact whatsoever. And he wasn't sure if that was just him or the air around the two was really stiff. It kind of all went away when Alkor mentioned being thought of as... dead? "... Why would they think you're dead? You can message them, can't you? And they can see you're alive,  you're friends, right?", he asked with concern in his voice as his gaze quickly went from the side right to Alkor, confusion and curiosity written all over the boy's face.

[Alkor 0]

"Yeah, I noticed a much lower output relative to other folks. I bought into the weapon thinking it would give me a higher crit rating, but without the base damage being relevant it barely even breaks even," Alkor lamented after Chase mentioned his database and the observations he had made about Curved Swords. "Its pretty unfortunate honestly, because if the two were just a little more balanced in the right way, it'd be one hell of a weapon."

With a sigh and a shrug, he left the topic to lie. It wasn't like they could change the program. Still, he had plans to- in the future- make the shift to a weapon that would make his damage output more relevant. That gave him some comfort. 

 There was an awkward pause before Chase asked about why people would think he was dead, and Alkor took a breath. He didn't like telling the story, but...

"It was the Ninth floor boss fight. We were fighting a giant Molten Hydra, and it got one of the other Players. She wasn't strong- shouldn't have been there. But, she was eager, so we didn't ask questions. Once she died, the rest of us started floundering, morale was down. At the time, other than Zelrius and Daeron, I was the strongest DPS on the Frontlines. I got cocky and thought I'd try to save everyone by taking the boss out myself."

He looked away and even closed his eyes.

"It caught me in its jaws and started to drag me down into the magma. Held me down as the environment damage rapidly depleted my health bar. Everyone watched me seemingly die as I managed to get my hand on a teleport crystal and warped out just in time."

Alkor managed a sad smile. 

"When I woke up, two years had passed. I had fallen into a coma. The shock must have put me under, but... they had already cleared their way to the 24th floor. Without me."

 

[ChaseR 0]

With the two starting to get a move on, Chase quickly managed to get a word in with Tythen to pick up the quest for the both of them. Apparently, they had to find his wife among some wreckage further out of the town. Needless to say, that would need lots of exploration, and that was going to be a bit of a time waste. Whichever the case, Chase promised to do the one thing that Tythen asked of them. "Please, I don't know if she's alive or not, but... Look through the tower, and if by a miracle she's still alive, please bring her back safe."

Not too high hopes when talking about his own wife, but regardless, the two moved on and began to quietly look through the wreckage while Alkor started to describe his story. Chase had just picked up some rubble which he dropped as soon as he heard that Alkor was presumed dead. There was one thing about his story that shook him even more than hearing that he 'died', that was how long he was in a coma for. There was no way it had been that long... right? "T-Two years? You mean we're in here for over two years?", he asked with furrowed brows, his mouth slowly starting to form a frown. "There's no way it's been that long. We don't even have a way to know; a calendar or anything."

[Looking through rubble. 1/4]

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR
After talking with Alkor, this was turned into an SP.

[ChaseR 0]

Complete silence was the only answer that Chase got. He wasn't sure what to make of Alkor's expression. Whether he felt bad or sad, or... He couldn't read a single thing. All he knew was that now even he himself was distressed upon hearing just how long it had been since the last time that he had walked in the real world. Two whole years..? That couldn't be, right? Not already.

Too distraught to even say a thing, Alkor quietly looked back to the settlement and began to take off with a mumble; Chase couldn't tell what he said. Right now, blue was lost in a world of his own. He watched the swordsman leave and quietly looked at the rubble left behind alongside him, knowing he still had a quest to finish. He had to confirm with someone else, there was no way that they just stayed in here for two years; he could have sworn it had been barely a few months at most of him living in that wooden inn. Silently kicking down one of the stones left behind, he sighed, unsure what else to say.

[Looking through rubble. 2/4]

[ChaseR 0]

There wasn't a need to really say anything to begin with, considering that Alkor wasn't there anymore. Now alone in the party, he had to look for the NPC's wife. Although it had been just a moment or so since getting the quest, he was so stumped from his recent discovery that he genuinely forgot already. To think that something could still shock him that much.

"Lily... If what Alkor said is true, how long has she been waiting for me?", his thoughts continued to swirl around his head as he kicked the rubble around in hopes of finding anything, giving it a half-hearted attempt if anything. He had to do better than that. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to find the dark elf's wife. A part of him hoped that he wouldn't find her and he'd instead have lost her somewhere that she ran towards in an attempt to flee the monsters. Another part of him genuinely wished she was around here, so he could protect her and escort her right on back to the town. Only time would tell though.

 

[Looking through rubble. 3/4]

[ChaseR 0]

If that was the case, he just had to give it his best. He had to start working on beating the game and get the frontliners moving; he was sure they all had their own reasons to get going, but to think they had been around much longer than he had and still took just as much time, if not more, to get prepared for the following bosses... They were way too relaxed.

"To hell with relaxing after I'm level 88.", he grunted and commented lowly to himself as he rolled both of his sleeves up and started to lift rocks out of the way and throw them further to the side with gritted teeth, trying to clear out some rubble around where he felt the woman would be, if anywhere. Or at least somewhere close to here, if not her, he could find some footsteps or sign that she had crossed somewhere down this path, right? With burnt down buildings and various objects laying about, this was certainly struck too hard by... whatever had struck down everything else.

 

[Looking through rubble. 4/4]

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Chase's head perked up as he thought he was hearing noise somewhere around here, frowning and raising his eyes to start looking around. If only he could track down the source of all this noise, then he could definitely get to wherever Fonsa was, right? That was the main idea at least.

Although noise kept sounding left and right, it was either other rubble falling down because of the ones that Chase had pushed out of the way or the wind howling; was it just the wind though? He began to move around and look suspiciously, knowing that something was nearby. Whether it was the person he was looking for or a monster though, only harder searching would be able to tell. For now, he was looking for a needle in a hay stack given how big the area of impact of whatever raid was. "It must have been somewhere around here."

[Fonsa wasn't found yet.]

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Continuing to walk around and keeping his mouth shut, his eyes scanned the area for any potential signs of creatures lurking about; be it monsters or the dark elf he was to look for. That's at least what the man reminded him off, an elf because of the pointier ears and height, but with a much darker skin. Was that even what they were called, 'dark elves'?

Telling whether his ears were playing tricks on him or not was becoming harder and harder to tell given the lack of anything around him. It was mostly ruins, rubble, debris and anything else around those lines. And all of those just so happened to be on his 'not worth noting' list, to his surprise. "I could have sworn that I heard something coming from around here...", he continued to grumble mostly mentally to himself and looked behind a ruined house, with both brows furrowed.

[Fonsa not found yet.]

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

And then it sounded again. The same noise that piqued the blue boy's interest; he quickly rushed right to its direction, hearing intangible growling and snarling before something fled the scene. By the time he was there, all he could see was something shining on the ground. "... Please don't do this.", he thought as he quietly approached, only to see it be a wedding ring.

The person he was meant to look for had just been killed, that's why the beastmen fled the scene. He knew not of who did it or how she died, if she was even armed or able to fight back, but... He had to report this back to the woman's husband, who tasked him with finding her after all. It was sad news, but he had to know one way or another. That meant he had little to do out here, so he should better just start to head right back to the settlement. Not the best of circumstances for him to really end the day off on... not that he'd call it early, but... it was more of a bad end to the start of his day than anything.

[Fonsa is found dead, but no Crazed Beastmen are around.]

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Looking behind at the small area around the tower that he was looking for Fonsa, Chase gave a final grim look and departed shortly after with a weight on his heart. It felt like so much had happened today when the day just started, only because he wasn't fast enough in all of his shock, which was a whole other can of worms... He definitely had to confirm with others on all of that.

Speaking of confirming, off to let her husband know about her fate... The fact he had to be the bearer of bad news, all on his own too. He knew that NPCs weren't real humans but couldn't stop regarding (the more humane ones) them as such. "... Damn it. I need to talk to NIGHT about this immediately.", he nodded to himself and continued to strut back right towards the settlement, put off by the eerily lonely atmosphere that was starting to take over the entire place. He was all alone, no monsters, no humans, no players, nothing.

[ChaseR 0]

And before long, he was face to face with Tythen. A look of hope was sent right his way, making Chase's heart feel even heavier as he shook his head and approached him quietly, the tension rising between the two. As soon as the boy revealed the wedding ring clutched tightly in his hand, the dark elf man just smiled sadly and looked at him.

"I never got to see what got her... By the time I was there, I only found the wedding ring. It might have been minutes, it might have been hours... I heard some beast looking around the place, but... I'm sorry. If I had found her, I promise it wouldn't be this way.", Chase's apology began as Tythen shook his head, seeming less crushed than he had expected. "It's alright... I believe you, you gave it your all. You returned fast with proof that she... You couldn't be lying. Thank you, traveller. Tell me, your name?"

Edited November 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Somewhat shocked at how calmly her husband appeared to be taking this situation, Chase quietly nodded and with the same frown, answered his question, wasting as little time as possible to do so. "A-Ah, it's Chase...", he stuttered and looked at him in awe, as he turned to look at the ceiling of the Underdark, silent. 

"Chase... Very well. I wasn't expecting you to find her. She and I both knew the implications of what she was about to do. A part of me was hopeful. Hopeful that she somehow made it out alive and would escape. But...", he stopped and lowered his head into his hand, covering his eyes and holding it silently. Chase knew that the man was crying, but he remained quiet. There was little he could say to make him feel better, nothing he could do to help cheer him up; even if he could, now was not his day. Not the right day, not the right time, and definitely not the right person.

[ChaseR 0]

Almost too soon, at least based on what Chase expected, Tythen raised his head and looked at Chase, having wiped all the tears off of his eyes. "We knew she wouldn't make it out alive. I didn't follow because I thought she would stay. But not everybody will listen. I'm sure she wouldn't want me to be sad... She fought for our happiness. For our land. For everything we cherish."

Chase watched him quietly, wanting to smile but feeling it inappropriate. He let out a deep sigh and nodded, letting Tythen take the ring from his hand as he clutched his fist and looked up at the Underdark's 'sky' too. "... I'm sure she did her best.", he simply said, lowering his head and giving a sympathetic look to the man. "... I'm sorry she passed away. I won't let anybody else die.", he tried to encourage the dark elf, who gave him a look and somewhat saddened smile. "I can tell if you were there, she might have been here now. Or maybe if I had gone there, we'd be together even now. Dead or alive."

[ChaseR 0]

"I'm happy for her though. Even if I wasn't there, she did what she found best to her dying breath. She must have put up a hell of a fight, knowing Fonsa.", Tythen continued, but the sadness was slowly leaving his words, and turning into happiness. Chase wasn't able to tell how, but... his gut feeling made him have a hunch. Somehow, this man just lost his wife but still, he was pressing on.

"She didn't fail anyone. And neither did you, Chase.", the elf continued to try and calm the boy down, and it was working. He did feel less guilty about it, especially with how well received this was. "... I shouldn't fail anyone in the future either then.", he mumbled to himself before averting his gaze to the side to look over at the elf, giving him a determined nod and receiving another smile from Tythen. This one even less sad. He quietly looked at the player's hand, taking it in his own and shaking it with a firm grip and slight grin even.

[ChaseR 0]

"You better not.", he said as the two exchanged greetings, or farewells rather, eventually resulting in them breaking off with some parting words from the spouse. "Thank you for listening to my selfish request. For going out to look for Fonsa, even when I knew she might not be found at all. You are a man worth admiring and looking up to. Thanks, Chase."

Just in case the elf had any self-guilt though... "... I know it's not the best, but... sometimes listening to what your heart says feels better. More right.", he tried to explain and nodded, thinking back to the whole fiasco with Freyd just two floors lower. A complete mess, but it felt like Chase had done the right thing, even with Mari having scolded him. She wouldn't put up a fight for herself, so Chase had to get through somehow. Even if he failed, he began to feel like Freyd had understood something. So in a sense, he knew what Tythen had done was right, even if a 'selfish request'. "Take care, Tythen."

[ChaseR 0]

And like so, the tank began to leave the quest. With his mind taken off of the troubling matter of how long they've been trapped in the game, he finally managed to get himself in a peaceful state of mind and headed straight for the teleporter. He checked his quest log, his mind set right back on track to getting every single quest done. There was one with a mysterious reward. Quite literally '???', or so it was listed.

Less clues aren't what Chase needed by this point, but sure thing. Just because the quest was vague didn't mean a thing; he'd still be able to clear it all the same. But... 'Chamber of Memories'? Whatever was that? He had to head right on over and find out now. Maybe he'd have to retrieve some precious memory, or help some amnesiac. He rushed over the quest's details, getting a poor idea of what it would be like before teleporting right on to the 22nd and getting a move on towards the forest. "Can't stop to look back for a moment. Just like Tythen never did."

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• 4 SP (2 quest, 1 page, event)
• 750 Col
• Quest Line locked.