[PP-F02] Tis' be a Light

[Seraphina 0]

As the warm light of the teleporter started to envelop the pixelated form anticipation and excitement started to bubble over. This was Sera's first time leaving the first floor. As the blue light overtook the edges of once clear vision a soft smile fixated on the smooth features. 'Goodbye. I'll be back soon.' As that thought finished the blue overtook everything and there was a sensation of weightlessness. Just as suddenly as the feeling occurred it vanished. Taupe lace boots suddenly touched on something firm and then a burst of color exploded in her vision. Stumbling out of the teleporter Sera managed to catch herself on one of the wooden benches. Her breath came in short gasps as she attempted to re-orient herself. The calm that was starting to be gained did not last. As the small form was about to right herself a figure suddenly appeared. 

"Pl-please," the women begged, "I've been trying to find someone to help me all day. My child--" she pauses, trying to regain her composure. "She-- she was playing in one of the caverns in the mountains with her friend. I-I told her not to go but she didn't listen to me!" Fat tears start to pour out of her eyes as she stared into Sera's warm amber eyes.

Tenderly, Sera places a touch on the shoulder of the hysterical woman. It was just a moment of distraction, but it was enough for the player to be able to respond, "I'll help you get your daughter back" -and hopefully not die in the process. The last part was only said within the safety of her mind. While Sera was not a particularly high leveled player, she figured that she might be able to handle this quest.

 Or maybe she could call a friend. 

There was moment of reprieve as NPC tearfully smiled at her. That was soon broke as tears started to well at the corners of her eye and she finished, "Her friend came back to me just this moment a-and said that they were attacked by monsters! T-the beast is still in there with her, please, I don't know how long my Koko can last in a place like that!"

Spoiler

Seraphina | Lvl: 2 | HP: 40/40 | EN: 22/22 | DMG: 4 | MIT: 11 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar
Level 31 [P.45]
HP: 860
EN: 118
DMG: 23
ACC: 4
EVA: 1
MIT: 104
BH: 47
LD: 5
16 FLN
FRZ
A.A.

Battle Ready Inventory
Teleport Crystal
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]

Equipment
Dark Fortunes [T4 Demonic Katana] A.A., FRZ, FLN, ACC
Tactical Under Armor [T4 Perfect Heavy Armor] +72 MIT
Ivory Gold Leaf Ring [T1 Demonic Trinket]  2 ACC, 2 EVA

Skills
Katana Mastery Rank 5 
Heavy Armor Mastery Rank 5
Battle Healing Rank 5
Searching Rank 5
Energist
Combat Mastery: Damage Rank 3

Extra Skills
Survival
Meditation
First Aid Rank 5

Mods/Addons
Katana: Ferocity
Katana: Stamina
HA: Impetus
HA: Iron Skin
FA: Field Medic
SRCH: Night Vision
Shift: AoE Specialist

Housing Buffs
Well-Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Relaxed: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Expertise to declared utility skill.
Advanced Training: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.
Greenhouse: +2 EXP to Gathering, +1 CD & LD

How had things become so complicated? He'd finally managed to ditch his shadow and yet he couldn't exactly move freely. Quite the opposite, actually. Oscar's old haunts were off limits until this whole ordeal he'd gotten himself stuck in was over. That being said, Oscar wasn't exactly the type to sit around and wait for the hammer to drop. Having fundamentally changed his appearance and purging his contact list of anyone he couldn't trust explicitly, it wouldn't be a simple task to find him. And after the skirmish on Floor 13, somehow Oscar doubted they had enough dudes to throw at him at this point.

Still, best not to poke at the cornered mutt, Oscar mused to himself as he meandered through Urbus. Having spent so much of his time bouncing between Floors One and Seven, he'd never really taken the time to take in the other floors. He'd quickly discovered that he had done himself a great disservice. Every Floor truly was an ecosystem unto itself. If there was any good to come out of this whole mess it would be that Oscar was forced to slow down, presenting him with myriad opportunities to notice the things that he wouldn't have otherwise given much of a damn about.

Rounding a corner, Oscar heard a familiar script.  "Pl-please. I've been trying to find someone to help me all day. My child--"

His eyes narrowed to a cold glare. Memories of his clash with a pair of malcontents flashed across his vision. That whole situation had become a mess unto itself - one that resolved itself about as terribly as one could expect. If he'd played that one differently, kept a closer eye on the pair, would it have played out differently? Would it have played out better? He couldn't deny the flutter of regret in his chest. Motivated by that (or perhaps his own curiosity), Oscar sized up the person taking the quest. Dark eyes flashed yellow as he activated his Searching skill.

Seraphina. Level... 2?! Aw hell.

Lying low was no longer the objective. This girl was about to get herself killed. Sure, it was only a basic quest on Floor 2, but he'd waited until Level 18 to do it. While it hadn't been intentional, Oscar had been glad he'd done so as the mobs in the quest hit inordinately hard. He really didn't want a newbie's death on his conscience. So he made his approach. Plastering a bright smile on his face, he strode up to the girl and the quest-giver calmly.

"Hi there," he began, doing his best to invoke the general energy of the version of himself that didn't have a body count. But that Oscar was from a lifetime ago and this Oscar didn't have the best recollection of him. "I don't mean to overstep, but this quest is a total noob trap. The mobs are a little too strong for anyone below level 5 or so. If you want to knock it out real quick, I can tag along."

Edited September 16, 2021 by Oscar

[Seraphina 0]

There had been no indication that anyone was there until a voice came out of the void. It was everything that she could do to keep herself from startling, but it was obvious that the quest giver was rattled by the other players sudden appearance. Turning a curious eye to who had addressed the duo warm, amber eyes found themselves staring into green eyes. A quick glance up would reveal soft blonde hair that appeared to be tussled by a wisp of wind. The rest of his ensemble was morbidly dark, so much so that the smile almost seemed out of place. Almost. Despite the one second analysis his gaze would have been greeted by one of her own toothy grins. "Really?" Sera rhetorically questioned, "That would be amazing." Then her attention was diverted back to the NPC.

"Hear that, we'll get your kid back to you safe and sound," the brunettes' smile softened, "You can count on us." 

This was an NPC. A non-playable character that would forever be stuck in the loop of loosing her child and having to beg players for there assistance only to be let down time and time again. If she could only provide a brief moment of hope then that is what she would do. At the news that the adventuring duo would go the women started to cry before rushing off to inform the rest of the family. Now that the NPC was gone a friendly gaze was turned toward her new partner. Scratching the back of her head the grin turned sheepish, "Thanks for coming with me," Sera stated, "Have you done this quest before?"