Quest for the Anneal Blade
{CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED 3 BOAR'S HIDES}
{CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED 1 BOAR'S TOOTH}
{CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 XP}
{YOU HAVE LEVELED UP TO LEVEL 3}
Ryu felt satisfaction and wariness as he felt satisfied from killing the Boar that tried to kill him but looked on towards his hand that had blood dripping from the Boar grazing him. This was his first time feeling caution in the game. This was a wake-up call for him, making him realize that he was not dreaming at all—it was reality. He clenched his hands, making a fist, making the blood flow down faster.
'This truly isn't a game anymore, is it?' He thought to himself.
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After killing the boar, Ryu began heading towards Horunka Village, northwest of The Town of Beginning. There was a village there, surrounded by a forest with no monsters spawning, but deeper in the forest laid dangerous monsters that no player would currently explore. Why was he heading there instead of leveling up and farming stats? The reason for heading there is for the Anneal Blade, a blade that was a one-handed sword that consisted of a dark grey/blackish blade with a white edge on the blade. This sword was only known to a handful of beta-testers that could only be counted on one hand—Ryu, of course, being one of them. This was a hidden quest from the NPC Rachel that was given as a reward for saving her daughter with an ovule from the Little Nepenthes in The Secret Medicine of the Forest, which was a treacherous forest that not even the most experienced players (As low-leveled) would go in. This sword was an heirloom in the family, passing from generation to generation, among generations. This was one of the best swords a player could get on the early floors, being useful for early game, making it easier to level up with this sword. He could do 12+ more damage than the basic regular sword, which was a huge contrast compared to other high-expensive swords he could get from the lower-level shops.
On the travel there, he encountered many monsters, ranging from goblins to slimes, who were not very threatening, but in groups that would be too ferocious, taking his level into consideration. With that said, Ryu decided to avoid them as he was playing solo for now as well, them being too high of a level for him, making the trip longer than usual.
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{WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE OF HORUNKA}
Finally, after 2 hours, he had arrived in Horunka. Looking around the village in nostalgia as Ryu remembered his memories with his guildmates.
"I wonder where they are?" Ryu sighed to himself.
The village of Horunka, a relatively small village that consisted of 10 buildings that had a small inn, weapon shop, and tool shop, with some houses that were housing some NPCs, with the rest being purchasable for players to live in.
'I should probably sell the drops from the Boar to get money for the Inn here' Ryu sighed to himself as he gripped the few copper coins in his pocket, approached the tool shop.
Looking around, he recognized a cobblestoned building that was noticeably larger than the buildings residing near it, making it pull in new players due to its distinct building appearance. The building had lanterns surrounding the building, with middle-aged men laughing at each other's jokes, giving off the classic, generic RPG-like ambiance building. Seeing this building again, he couldn't help but put a reminiscent smile on his face.
Heading inside the building a Norman style-like architecture but was slightly altered giving it a more unique feeling with a red carpet over the dark oak wood floor, with well-constructed cobblestone walls as its walls that looked like an old winery that Ryu reluctantly went to for one of the social gatherings that he was forced to go to, as he looked around, he saw many customers looking over the variety of tools that were being displayed ranging from daily necessities such as nails and hammers to obscure things like Goblin Nails.
Walking in, he found that all the customers were looking in his direction with curious expressions on their faces, as it was uncommon for them not to know anyone in the village and the shady get-up he was in his dark cloak that had his face giving off a mysterious vibe. Not minding this, as he was used to many expressions from all sorts of people, he continued walking in the shop. As he approached the counter, he saw a familiar, burly man that was slightly taller than Ryu, making him a tall guy with a muscular appearance. Because of this, Ryu had a good impression of him due to him resembling one of his bodyguards that he was slightly close to, as well as him being one of the NPC'S he's interacted with in the beta.
{BETA TESTER TITLE IS ACTIVE}
Before he could talk to the burly, middle-aged man, he received a notification notifying him that his title activated, making him stop for a second contemplating over the new feature that wasn't in the beta test.
"Hey, are you going to stay there forever?" The middle-aged man said with a smile plastered on his face.
Ryu woke up from his thinking as he gently shook his head with a slight smile on his face underneath his cloak that would have made several vixens blush like a schoolgirl confessing to their crush. But before he could talk, he heard whispers around him making him look around the shop.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I thought I thought I was dreaming, that guy took the initiative to talk? That guy is always quiet and lazing around."
"I know that guy only talks when he has to."
"That guy ignored me one time because I was talking too 'much'."
"Who are you and where is Phil at?" Said in a serious voice with a mix of concern.
Ryu could only wryly smile at the comments, as he knew this was the influence of the {BETA TESTER} title. The man who was being questioned felt reminiscent of Ryu but couldn't remember why. Seeing the black-cloaked figure leave, he couldn't help but smile.
"Someone get a doctor, I think he's fallen ill!"
"Here's an ice pack!"
"Shut up! I'm not sick and quiet down, I'm trying to sleep over here!"
After getting a room from the inn, he began walking to complete the hidden quest. Rachel, the missus daughter, had fallen ill from an unknown disease that could not be cured by any normal means; even their best medicine was ineffective against the mysterious disease. The only way to cure her is to make her drink the life-giving liquid from the ovule inside the predatory plants that were located in the extremely dangerous forest—the Secret Medicine of the Forest.
Finding a house that was on a hill that was slightly far from the village, he approached it. Knocking on the door, he heard a voice telling him to wait. The door opened to a beautiful woman that had ash brown hair coming to her waist, with a healthy red hue on her healthy, pale face, with a slightly suspicious, but her worried expression was more prominent as she looked as if her daughter was dying.
"Hello, who are you?" The woman questioned with a slight hurried voice.
But before he could respond back to the beauty, he heard a loud cough from the distance. Ryu frowned from this as he reminisced about his late, ill mother.
"I'm sorry, I have to go!" But before she could leave, Ryu had held the door, forcing the door to stop.
"I can cure your daughter."
"Really!" The woman wasn't thinking in the right mind as she was too concerned for her daughter, forcing the logic to the back of her head.
"The Secret Medicine of the Forest" Ryu calmly stated.
Only a few words were said, but the impact on her was tremendous, as she knew that the trip inside the forest was treacherous. Tears were sliding down her cheeks. Ryu was about to speak up to console her, but before he could he was silenced by her sudden outburst.
"Thank You! Thank You so much! In return, I'll give you our family's heirloom. Please save my daughter...Please!"
{QUEST HAS BEEN GIVEN!}
Quest: Little Nepenthes' Ovule
Objective: Head to The Secret Medicine of the Forest and kill the Little Nepenthes and obtain the ovule to cure the daughter
Reward: Anneal Blade
500 XP
1 summoning ticket
100+ fame