Chapter 41 - Yuuki
After payment have been made, the two got out of the shop with the items that Yuuki had bought already equipped on him.
[Item Name: Ninja Tabi
Rarity: Rare
Tier: 72
Level: 1
Requirements: None
Stats Bonus: Suppressed: (258 Dexterity, 63 Vitality) >> 15 Dexterity, 3 Vitality
Effects: Move Speed UP (Movement speed is increased by 20%)
Description: An unusual export from the Ninja Village of Valley of the End.]
[Item Name: Manathread Hair Tie
Rarity: Uncommon
Tier: 50
Level: 1
Requirements: None
Stats Bonus: Suppressed: (222 Magic) >> 18 Magic
Effects: None
Description: A simple accessory weaved from the special Manathread of Alfheim.]
[Item Name: Combat Hakama
Rarity: Common
Tier: 40
Level: 1
Requirements: None
Stats Bonus: Suppressed: (74 Vitality, 52 Resistance, 52 Strength) >> 8 Vitality, 5 Resistance, 5 Strength
Effects: None
Description: A common garment worn by most Kenshi.]
[Item Name: Manathread Undershirt +20
Rarity: Uncommon
Tier: 50
Level: 1
Requirements: None
Stats Bonus: Suppressed: (132 Resistance, 61 Strength, 28 Magic) >> 13 Resistance, 6 Strength, 1 Magic
Effects: None
Description: A simple piece of garment weaved from the special Manathread of Alfheim.]
"You sure you wouldn't buy? These things are good quality, at a cheaper price too."
"Nope, what I need are not here. Besides, I'm not even looking for items to equip, but usable things for alchemy such as materials, blah blah, those things that they don't have here."
"All right, I won't get in your way then, hope you find plenty."
"Right, right..."
"All right! Let's get going! Level up!" Yuuki declared with enthusiasm.
"Yup, let's…"
They searched the city for a quest worth taking, talking to many NPCs here and there. After a while, they just started to do ordinary tasks such as cleaning and hauling all for the sake of gaining enough EXP to level up.
"What now? All those fancy equipment for what? Cleaning stables?" Alchimie chuckled as he continued mopping the floor that's already halfway finished.
"Ugh, for fuck's sake, it's for EXP! But completing quests is still faster compared to mindlessly killing mobs..." Yuuki replied as he shovelled a pile of mud, however, thanks to Alchimie's golems specifically molded for this quest, the task wasn't that hard and can actually be finished sooner than the time limit allotted.
"Welp, can't help it, we can't find something that involves fighting, after all..." Alchemie said.
"Is that regret in your voice…?"
"Yup, a little… I wanna test my golems more, and a real battle will help immensely."
"But this is already a real battle, for our noses! Fuck! I didn't play this game to smell and clean horse shit!" Yuuki raged and slammed the shovel onto the ground hard, but not to the point of breaking it, even when his strength is able to. "Ah, it landed on horse shit…"
"Haha! It's fine, it's fine, it's just a simulation anyway."
As the two continued their work and conversation, an old man entered the stable with tears overflowing from his eyes.
"Aren't you two… Climbers…?" The old man asked while keeping himself from breaking down but his tears still flowed.
"Uh… yes… how may we help you, sir?" Alchimie answered this time.
"Are you open to accepting an old man's request? I will give you everything I have..."
"Um… what is it about?"
"A… Dangerous beast most likely had gotten my grandson… please help me track and kill it."
"We will do our best…" Alchimie replied but Yuuki asked at the same time.
"What do you think are we dealing with? Gramps?"
"A Lion... Please… kill it, and find my grandson, I beg you…" The old man quietly sobbed as he clenched his fist.
"A Lion, huh? We'll take care of it, you can count on us."
"Yes, thank you! I live at a house at the right end of the next street…! Please find me there once you recovered my grandchild, dead or alive… please…"
"Nah, old man, you'll see him as lively as you last saw him, no worries." Yuuki replied with utmost confidence as the old man began walking away, despite the latter keeping his composure during the entire conversation, he still broke down after walking, his cries being heard by the two still.
"My Ran! Please be alive!"
The two simply looked at each other hesitantly and quietly continued on their current task, hurrying it as it was already almost finished anyway to continue on with the next quest.
[Subjugation Quest Activated!
Quest Name: Ran's Rescue
Difficulty: Hard
Description: Ran, old man Ramus' grandson had been missing! A witness saw him being snatched by a Lion in the Gray Zone! Rescue him and reunite the two!
Current Objectives: Retrieve Ran and Kill the Lion (Last sighting at the Gray Zone southwest of the Molfon City.)
Time Limit: 48 Hours (In-game Time)
Failure Condition: Failure to find Ran within the allotted time.
Rewards: 80% EXP bar (based on current level), ???
Accept/Decline?]
"Accept, of course... Gosh he never gave us any info, thank god the interface provided that…" Yuuki sighed.
Over half an hour later, the two finally managed to finish their ongoing quest, and since they are already paid beforehand, they just need to leave the stable cleaned for when the owners return later.
"Let's go find this kid…" Alchimie said with a serious tone as the two began sprinting out of the city.
"You sound agitated… don't tell me… you're fond of kids?" Yuuki said it as a joke, but Alchimie's reaction showed otherwise that it is not something to joke about.
"I know this is just a simulation, but you know my history, didn't you?"
"Oh… right… sorry for being insensitive…"
"No, I am fine with that, this is just a game, it's just that…"
"Okay, let's just focus on it then."
The two later arrived at the supposed site, because the game doesn't have any minimap or waypoints, they have to carefully find where the last sighting was.
Because of this system, every nook and cranny of the map have to be manually explored and documented, or if you're lucky, there are premade maps by NPCs but still, you need to be able to read a map, otherwise, you will only be buying a piece of junk.
They examined the surroundings, despite the scene having tracks everywhere such as scratches and unnaturally large paws etched onto the ground, there's really nothing else.
"There doesn't seem to be any resistance…" Yuuki said as he examined the tracks.
"It's just the boy here when it happened, huh?" Alchimie remarked as he looked at the footprints.
"Yup… the witness seemed to had arrived a bit later... Let's follow it first."
"Got it."
The two followed the tracks for god knows how long until they arrived in the Black Zone, the territory of beasts and monsters.
They halt their stride because the tracks suddenly ended halfway there. There doesn't seem to be any other thing happening there, but the tracks of the said Lion suddenly got cut off here.
"Oh, yeah… We're so dumb. Why did we assume that it's a mindless piece of shit?" Alchimie uttered with a manic smile on his face. "Of course, you're not mindless, are you?!" He turned to the side and looked up a branch, and surely enough, his guess was right, halfway through their search, this beast with the height of two meters had already been stalking them, looking for a perfect opportunity to strike!