[SP-F5] <<The Traveler>>

[Azide 0]

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, kind player," said the woman. She looked at him with tired, yet pleading, eyes. In fact, those eyes were all that he could even see of her. Along with her hushed voice and faint accent, they were the only things that told him that confirmed her existence to him. Dressed head to do in shadowy shrouds, she was more like a ghost than a woman. A restless specter with a final request.

"I see," said Azide, nodding slowly. He extended his arm forward and reach out for her hand, then felt it grasp around his. They shook on it, having come to an understanding. "Even her hands are gloved in black," he noticed. "So it's settled. I'll go into the desert and find your lost cargo, and in return, you'll give me the Survival Skill."

Her eyes took on a quality of relief, and suggested a smile somewhere underneath the dark veils covering the rest of her face. She bowed deeply, and her posture took on a considerably less degree of tension. Her shoulders seemed to soften, as if his words had lifted a great weight from them. "Thank you, stranger. I can't even begin to express my gratitude."

Azide tapped accept on the dialogue box that'd appeared before him, nodding again at the woman. "You can express your gratitude by rewarding me after I come back. But for now, just get some rest. You look tired." He checked his virtual map, opening it after exited from the previous interface. "And from the looks of it, you'll be able to get approximately a day and night's worth."

[Azide 0]

He'd entered the desert soon after bidding the mysterious woman goodbye, traveling past Armadillo and heading through the canyon pass. The winds were harsh, and sand swirled violently all around, as if he were in an endless and gritty dust cloud. The sun beat down on him harshly, with no refuge from the heat to be found. But in spite of it all, he'd managed to press right on without any major injuries. That being said, he'd still been attacked by lone Sand Fish at some point early on, though it'd failed to leave an impact with its first attack.

The creature had missed him as it shot out from the sand and flew several feet past him. "I guess you don't tend to have good aim if you have to judge your trajectory from underground," thought Azide. He dashed over to it's landing spot, then slashed at the exposed creature while it kept near the surface, then watched as it made a full temporary retreat underground once more.

ID: 10731

BD: 8 (Hit)

CD: 10 (No environmental damage)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Fish) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 28/28

Sand Fish HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

From there, the creature continued to laze around from the safety of its underground position, leaving Azide all the more annoyed in the meantime. While the creature took its sweet time swimming about under the shifting sands, harsh and sandy winds of the desert tore into him, clipping off a sliver of his health bar in the process. When the creature had finally reappeared to launch a second attack, it'd ended up somehow missing him even worse than the first time around. However, the unfavorable conditions of their battle had also caused him to swing and miss as well, with the dustiness of their current battlefield rendering it difficult to accurately assess the creature's distance from him.

ID: 10793

CD: 1 (Environmental damage taken)

BD: 2 (Miss)

MD: 1 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Environmental damage)

Azide HP: 27/28 (-1)

Sand Fish HP: 9/18

[Azide 0]

Though the dust continued to loom, Azide wouldn't tolerate another miss, and so instead simply disallowed it to affect him. He rushed through the dust cloud and aimed at the creature as it rose out of the ground, then pierced mid-air and thrusted his slim blade through the entirety of its body. He'd managed to impale the entire creature, stopping it from reaching him with its own elongated beak, which resembled that of a sword fish's. The creature soon shattered, freeing his blade from having to carry its weight for any longer than that brief moment. It left behind a bit of crafting material that he figured would be useful to his alchemy, along with a bit of col.

He glanced around, but saw no signs of any cargo. "Just sand for miles and miles. She might as well have sent me to recover a grain of salt she'd lost in the ocean," he thought. "And yet this quest can't be impossible. Nothing in this game has been impossible so far, and I'm quite sure it'll turn up eventually." He continued making his way through the desert, journeying onwards.

ID: 10795

CD: 11 (Safe)

BD: 3 (+3 Accuracy) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 6 (-2 Accuracy) = 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Fish) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 27/28

Sand Fish HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired.

**HP (18) * 5 = 90 col acquired.

[Azide 0]

"My god, that looks like a creature that isn't a Sand Fish, for once," thought Azide. In the distance he spotted a mammal of some sort, which somewhat resembled a raccoon. He slowly inched his way forward, his arms shielding his eyes from the sand that swirled all over. Upon closer inspection, he could see now that the creature looked closer to a honey badger than a raccoon, albeit its fur color deeply reflected the dusty browns and red of the desert. "It'll almost be a shame to kill it." He unsheathed his rapier, than made a mad dash at the creature, hoping to take it by surprise. By the time the creature had noticed him, he'd already managed to enter striking distance of the beast, slashing once at the creature while evading its clawed paws. "Settle down, big guy. Watch where you're swinging those things. Someone could get hurt."

ID: 10798

CD: 7 (Safe)

BD: 3 (+3 Accuracy) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 3 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Badger) = 9 (Base+Rapier+Skills)

Azide HP: 27/28

Sand Badger HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

Having maintained his position after the previous slash, Azide had been aiming to cut down on any wasted time that would've been contributed by an unnecessary retreat. He'd blocked a swipe from the creature's hefty paw, deflected a fierce swipe from the creature's claws, though he'd failed to properly repel the creature's second strike. Its claws raked across his chest, slicing through the armor he wore, albeit not very deeply. The cuts inflicted from the attack soon healed, and the pain quickly ebbed. With the beast still within striking range, he stepped forward and drove his blade deep into its stomach, bringing it to a quick and anticlimactic end. It shattered with little fanfare, leaving behind some crafting material and col, both of which were quickly sent off to his inventory. Azide continued on his way, keeping his eyes peeled for any lost cargo, but finding nothing at the moment.

ID: 10800

CD: 9 (Safe)

BD: 2 + 1 (Concentration) + 3 (Equipment + Skills) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 8 (Hit)

LD: 11 (Loot found)

Concentration CD (0/5)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Base) - 3 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Sand Badger) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 26/28 (-1)

Sand Badger HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (2 materials acquired, total).

**HP (18) * 5 = 90 col acquired (180 col acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

The harsh winds of the desert grew harsher still, and seemed to grow ever more violent at inopportune moments. He felt every particle wearing him away slowly, as if he were just another piece of stone waiting to be eroded along with the others. As if it were his fate. He watched as his health bar slipped by yet another sliver. Meanwhile, the ever present and ever hot sun continued to shine down on him mercilessly, only serving to further irritate and inconvenience him. "God, it's days like this where I regret always wearing a coat," he thought. Eventually, he came to a halt and crouched down, then began digging away at the dirt, hoping to find some sort of sign of the cargo. He'd given up on the effort after digging up a hole deep enough for him to sink past his knees into, then climbed out and continued onwards. "That was a dumb move in the first place. If I'm going to find buried treasure, it definitely won't be by dumb luck."

ID: 10804

CD: 1 (Damage taken)

LD: 8 (Nothing)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Environmental)

Azide HP: 25/28 (-1)

[Azide 0]

Before he could find any clues, however, he'd been ambushed by another Sand Fish. "Honestly, I was hoping for another one of those more creative enemies, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Then again, I'm not exactly begging for enemies in the first place..." That said, calling the creature's attempts an ambush would be giving it far too much credit, in his opinion. Its execution had been downright sloppy, and left it emerging at an entirely doomed angle. The creature ended up launching from the sand and straight over its target's head, allowing the player to slash cleanly at its underside and stripping away half of its health in a single hit. "Better luck next time. I'd say that I have bigger fish to fry, but at the moment, I don't. Which sounds like unfortunate news for you."

ID: 10807

CD: 7 (Safe)

BD: 5 (+3 Accuracy) = 8 (Hit)

MD: 1 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Fish) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 25/28

Sand Fish HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

The creature quickly dove back under the shifting sands of the desert, sending it to a place that was no doubt both safer and cooler than the scorching and ruthless surface on which the player stood. Moments later, it erupted out from underneath him, briefly knocking Azide to the ground and chipping away at his health. "Luckily enough for me, I happen to be wearing boots that protect me from that sort of nonsense," he thought, pulling himself back up to his feet and dusting himself off. When the creature had showed its head peeking out from under the sand once again, he'd made short work of it. A simple stab to the top of the head had done the trick, and served to recover the health he'd lost, and then some. It shattered, leaving the player even more col and a bit of crafting material as well. "The col gain has been strangely consistent thus far. But now that I've pointed it out, I've probably jinxed it."

ID: 10808

CD: 12 (Safe)(+1 HP)

BD: 8 (Hit)(Life Steal +1)

MD: 10 (Crit +2)

LD: 11 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Base) + 2 (Crit +2) - 2 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Sand Fish) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 26/28 (-1)(+2)

Sand Fish HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (3 materials acquired, total).

**HP (18) * 5 = 90 col acquired (270 col acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

ID:10809

CD: 8 (Safe)

Suddenly, he'd spotted an odd sight in the distance. Relatively speaking, that was. On some level, it'd occurred to him that spotting another person out here shouldn't be some sort of massive surprise, as he himself happened to be a human traveling across this vast expanse. "It's only natural that other people would do the same." And yet, encountering other people in this large and barren floor seemed to be quite a rare occasion. With the unfavorable conditions and scorching heat, it was no wonder that most people tended to avoid traveling here when possible. He waved at the man or woman in the distance, but to no avail. A gesture such as that was bound to be lost, with the other individual traveling parallel to him, and unlikely to notice him from all the way over there.

"Perhaps this person might be able to give me a lead or two. And if not, no harm done," he thought. He began making his way towards this other individual, thankful that the winds had temporarily spared him the intensity that they were otherwise capable of.

[Azide 0]

"Hey, I don't mean to surprise you like that, but I can assure you that our current encounter is entirely incidental. That said, I'd just like to ask you a few questions, if you'd just be willing to cooperate," said Azide. He'd cupped his hands together to amplify his voice, knowing how easily the desert could drown out his voice, even with their closer distance. The mysterious individual looked up and saw him, then promptly began to high-tail it out of there, dropping something in the process. Azide began running after them, then stopped and stooped over to pick up what the other man or woman had dropped. It seemed to be a chunk of rock salt. He decided to sent it to his inventory, knowing that salts were always useful in the laboratory, being crystals and all. "I could definitely use them for substitution reactions and isolate other materials using them," he thought. But with that out of the way, he focused on the task at hand, and began pursuing the figure with renewed vigor, quickly gaining on him or her.

ID: 10810

CD: 10 (Safe)

LD: 20 (Material found)

Azide HP: 26/28

*1 material acquired (4 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

Eventually, Azide had managed to all but overtake the fleeing figure altogether, and was only helped by his target stumbling and crashing to the ground. Taking advantage of the figure's temporarily immobilized state, he placed himself directly in front of the his target, preventing them from escaping a second time. "Calm down there, buddy. I'm just here to talk."

The shrouded figure struggled back to their feet, then clumsily began to draw their sword, but appeared too anxious to do so in a swift or even proper manner.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," remarked Azide, taking a light hold of his own sword handle. He let his fingers tap gently against the grip one by one, as if to further punctuate his point. He shot a stern at to the person he'd decided was likely a man at this point. "If you agree to talk, nobody here has to suffer any losses of any sort, and we can both continue on our merry way. Now doesn't that sound desirable to you? It does to me."

ID: 10811

CD: 7 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

The stranger relented, promptly removing their hand from the grip of their blade. They took a moment to gather their wits, then finally spoke, confirming that he was indeed a man. "I don't want any trouble, really. I'll talk. I'll tell you whatever you want to hear," he said, throwing his arms up in surrender. He clasped them together and began shaking them pleadingly in front of himself. "Please, just don't hurt me."

Azide gave his head a slight tilt. "Hey, simmer down over there. No one said anything about anyone getting hurt, and I'd be insulted if you were implying that I'd threatened to do so. But now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'd just like to ask you a few simple questions." He paused, then produced the hefty chunk of rock salt that the man had dropped earlier. "Salt is a rare commodity in this world, and prized by both cooks and alchemists all over. Where did you get your hands on such a large piece of it? I'm dying to know." He looked deeply into the man's eyes, hoping to quash any attempts at lies before they could even begin to form.

ID: 10812

CD: 8 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

The man gave a nervous chuckle and seemed hesitant to answer, but swallowed and answered him after looking at the player's equipment. His sword, in particular, caused a bit of anxiety "It looks awfully sharp," is what Azide imagined him to be thinking. And it was true. Quantum Slicer was the sharpest sword that money could buy at the moment.

He pulled out another chunk of the salt and handed it to the player, who examined it closely before sending it off to his inventory. The man seemed distraught about his commodity's sudden disappearance, but didn't dare speak out about the loss. "Those two chunks are all that's left, I swear," said the man.

Azide raised a brow. "Oh? All that's left? Left of what, exactly?" He was curious now. One chunk always left the possibility of a fluke, but his possession of a second implied a larger source somewhere around here. After all, it was unlikely that one would carry these on their person unless transporting them somewhere. "People might kill for this stuff," he thought. "Nobody would want to carry it for longer than they needed to."

ID: 10813

CD: 7 (Safe)

LD: 18 (Material found)

*1 material acquired (5 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

The man looked surprised at the player's lack of knowledge. Perplexed, even. "You mean you didn't know?" asked the man. He'd thought the player to simply be feigning ignorance, though it began to seem that there was no ruse here.

Azide gave a sly look, then slowly drew Quantum Slicer and held it low against the ground. "Who knows? Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But that's my business, and not yours. So I kindly suggest that you tell me the full story as I requested, and I suggest you get on that immediately."

The man swallowed again. He quickly dispelled any further thoughts of deception, knowing that it would be a losing game. "Well, you see, those two chunks are all that's left of a caravan that had passed through here the other day. It'd been carrying a whole shipment of rare goods and commodities, including that rock salt that I'd recovered."

ID: 10814

CD: 3 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

"Caravan?" he thought. "Recovered?" Slowly, all of the pieces of this puzzle were beginning to come together. The picture they formed was still somewhat murky, but he felt it possible to identify their shape at this point. "I believe I'm beginning to know the nature of the beast. From the looks of it, that lost cargo must've been a shipment from the NPC woman's caravan, which must've been carrying this rock salt along with a bunch of other rarities. But from this man's comments, it sounds as if something happened to the shipments, and what he's given me seems to be the last traces of that shipment." Yes, this part of the story seemed clear to him.

He spoke up, making clear his thoughts on the man's story. "That sounds about right. But what I'm curious about," he began. "Is what happened to this shipment, and what your relation to it was. You seem far too nervous to be an employee or envoy doing a recovery mission. No, I wouldn't buy that story at all."

The man looked down, seeming to shrink away before him.

ID: 10815

CD: 9 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

"Uh, well, I..." The man was visibly nervous, stuttering and stammering and producing a near incoherent babble. He was obviously distressed about the questions he'd been presented with, which certainly didn't reflect very kindly upon his character.

Azide shook his head. "I think we both know what you are. That's enough of that," he remarked. He looked the man dead in the eyes. "You're a lowly bandit, aren't you? I figured as much, but I'd wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. You know what they say about jumping to conclusions."

The man said nothing, though in doing so, said everything he'd needed to. He seemed to crumbled before the player, having been found out entirely. The game seemed to be over here.

"A coward like you probably didn't even participate in the attacks. If you had that much gusto, you probably would've attacked me earlier, instead of fleeing. After all, I'm here entirely alone. But you ran, and proved yourself cowardly. No, someone like you is unlikely to have actually attacked that caravan. But I bet you know where the cargo is hiding, don't you? I bet you know what happened to it."

Azide ran his fingers through the sand absentmindedly, surprised to feel them come into contact with something. He brought it up to eye level and let the sand drain out through the cracks of his fingers, leaving behind a small gem. He quickly sent the material to his inventory, then turned his gaze back to the man.

ID: 10816

CD: 3 (Safe)

LD: 20 (Material found)

Azide HP: 26/28

*1 material acquired (6 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

Beads of sweat raced down the man's face, though he remained silent for another few moments. Finally, he took a shallow and ragged breath, which amounted to little more than a strained wheeze. He began playing around with his fingers, though it was unlikely he was conscious of the fact. "I have an idea of where it might be," said the man, finally. "I'll take you there," he offered.

"Which direction might you travel from here to find it?" asked Azide, ignoring the man's offer. He gentled grasped the handle of his sword, flexing his grip on it repeatedly. "And in addition, are there any tell-tale signs that'd tell me when I'd happened upon this lost shipment?" he added.

The man's voice was strained, and little more than a whisper. He sounded as if he were in need of a drink. Possibly even a strong one. "That way," he said, pointing in the direction. "There wouldn't be too much that would tell you, although you might find a few scattered and empty crates nearby. Uh, naturally, you won't find anything left in them. The little stuff's all gone, but the real treasures are buried underneath near those crates."

Azide nodded. "I see. Anything else I should know?" he asked.

"Uh, yes. What ended up sinking the shipment wasn't a bandit attack. Yes, we happened to have taken control of the caravan when it'd happened, but that little venture didn't end too well, as you might imagine. We were attacked by a massive Sand Shark. I told them it was a stupid idea to redirect the route, but they didn't listen. Those bastards..." He looked off into the distance.

ID: 10817

CD: 5 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

"Sand Shark?" repeated Azide. He looked briefly in the direction the man had pointed out to him, then turned back to face him once more. "That thing was certainly massive the last time I'd encountered one. It was little trouble to me, though I can see how it might give these knuckleheads a bit of a dilemma. In any case, this just might end up adding a slight bit of extra flair to the end of this quest."

The man nodded. "Yes, we were attacked by a Sand Shark. It's a bit smaller than some of the others you might see around here, so we thought it was probably one of the younger ones. But even then, it's nothing to sneeze at. It was still more than big enough to sink nearly the entire shipment by itself."

Azide waved dismissively at the man, chuckling at his comments. "I'm not worried about the shark, if that's what you're thinking." He crouched down and took hold of the man's sword and glanced at it cursorily. He could see his reflection in it. Suddenly, he tossed it in the air, where it spun before being sliced into two by the player's own sword. It shattered, leaving behind nothing.

He sheathed his own sword, then turned towards the frightened man a final time. "Since you were cooperative enough, I won't kill you. But a man like you is unfit to wield a weapon of any sort. It's down right unsavory. But consider yourself lucky to be still be alive." He began to walk off in the direction that he'd been indicated to head off in. "If you're a little luckier, maybe you'll even make it out of here as well. Farewell, bandit." He waved over his shoulder without looking back, leaving the man to fend for himself as he journeyed on in search of the cargo.

ID: 10820

CD: 8 (Safe)

Azide HP: 26/28

[Azide 0]

Finally, after what seemed to have been centuries, he spotted a scattered assortment of empty and broken crates in the distance. He could barely make them out from his current position, though the moonlight proved to be just enough for him to identify his destination. The harsh winds had continued to be an annoyance to him for the rest of the trip, but had amounted to little more than that for the duration of his travels, having died down enough to pose little threat to his progress. It'd been the break of dawn when he'd set out, and now the whole sky was dark, yet he pressed on. It was quite chilly now, which managed to surprise him, though logically he recognized that it was to be expected. "As hot as they are during the daytime, deserts almost always end up being significantly colder at night." In any case, he'd traveled more than his fair share for today, and he wanted nothing more than to reclaim the lost cargo and call it a day.

Suddenly, a familiar sight erupted for the sand, leaping high into the air. It dove back into the ground, missing a direct hit on the player, though the shockwaves and tremors caused by its actions served to chip off a bit of his health. Sand was flung in all directions, hitting Azide with the gritty shrapnel. It was as if a bomb had been set off under the sand just a few feet away from him, and yet his armor had absorbed much of the impact.

He ran forward and slashed at the creature's tail, leaving a deep cut in it before it could slip back into the ground. "Looks like you'll have to help me uncover that buried cargo," he thought. He'd been at a loss on how to actually recover the buried shipment, having realized that the bandits likely would've recovered it themselves if possible. But now a plan began to take form in his head.

ID: 10821

CD: 7 (Safe)

BD: 8 (Hit)(Life Steal +1)

MD: 8 (Hit)

Damage taken (Azide) = 3 (Base) - 3 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Young Sand Shark) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 26/28 (-1)(+1)

Young Sand Shark HP: 18/27 (-9)