Lore Online [IC/Accepting]

[bury the year]

< OOC >

PROLOGUE: A BREATHER

The evening sun beat down on his face.

Yohta looked skywards and squinted. It was almost half a year since the event known as Lockdown Day, and yet Yohta still wasn’t used to how much Lore had supplanted “the world he once knew as home.” He couldn’t even call Japan “home” outright anymore, if that was the worst part of it. Earth seemed so much duller when you plop someone who hasn’t seen past melon fields in two decades in…

Well, in a place like this.

Dubhe sprawled before him, a veritable cornucopia of bounty in the desert. Its position as the cradle of Lore’s civilization meant that there was always something going on, even as the sun set. Fishermen were hauling their catches in for the days, throwing fish into massive reed baskets that hung off the docks. Women strolled down the avenues, massive piles of folded silks and fabrics balanced precariously atop their heads. The faint aroma of charcoal penetrated the air as restaurants started cooking. (Too bad the taste was never as good as the smell.)

It was hard to believe that so much of this world was just programming, just a fictive string of zeroes and ones stretching into infinity. The thought that humanity’s progress had come so far… was mindboggling, to be completely honest. It was a statement of the human condition, if he thought about it for a whil-

Yohta shook his head. He hated those thoughts. You were here, goddammit. Might as well make the best of it. Don’t get all philosophical - it wouldn’t get you anywheres.

His hands fidgeted as he walked, the only parts of his body that managed to stave off the day’s exhaustion. They touched the dagger strapped to his thigh instinctively, protected even through the heavy cloth armor. Osprey had just completed a rather arduous quest to the Hilaqa Razor Plains. Potions and healing spells alike wouldn’t stave off the fact that his calves felt like they had went through a paper shredder. He guessed that the designers of Lore kept pain in so that players wouldn’t get too reckless, but still… it hurt. And sucked.

The Central Market District came into vision, being directly adjacent to the docks. It was the heart of the city, and held its central organ: the bulletin board. Quests could be found here every day, for any adventurer to copy it down and go hunting for some NPC. Osprey had done just that, and now they were going to collect their bounty. Instinctively Yohta popped open the HUD and navigated to “Items” to find the reward bounty, which they’d trade in to complete the quest.

...And it wasn’t there.

Screeching halt. The small cavalcade of players who made up the rest of Osprey stopped behind him, with a bit of thumping and cursing as toes were tread upon and bodies smacked against each other. Yohta turned to face the other six players, his face the essence of grumpiness as he scanned them one by one. “Okay, guys. Which one of you grabbed that damned cactus flower and didn’t decide to tell me?”

[spoiler=Where to Go]Get into character by bouncing around blame for a post or two. Once we do that, I’ll introduce the first real mission.[/spoiler]

[Aix]

[justified]Despite the lethargy weighing down on her, Akane kept an upright, straight-backed posture. Her gait exuded confidence like a true Knight, and with her beauty, even in the dying light of the evening, she caught the lingering stares of men and women alike as she passed. However, underneath her iron demeanor, she was quite worried. She was not, like Yohta, contemplating philosophy or the human condition, her mind was on much more mundane things, she was actually deciding how she might sneak off to get her armor repaired without the others noticing.

She had taken a nasty hit to her side during the quest that day, the fruit of her reckless nature in combat. Fortunately, she had managed to coerce the healer, Mattias, into discretion during the routine post-quest injury inspection. She glanced back once more at the short boy walking behind her. Thanks to him, the wound had completely healed, leaving only a dull ache that would be gone come morning. However, on the other hand, her armor had been completely crushed in that spot, and would be immediately noticeable to the others on closer inspection. For that reason, she carried her helmet under her left arm rather than her right to cover it up.

The party walked on, and Akane kept in stoic silence as they entered the market district. Her eyes scanned the colorful shops and stalls. Just as she caught sight of the armor vendor, Yohta spun around, catching her in the awkward position of sneaking off.
 
"Okay, guys. Which one of you grabbed that damned cactus flower and didn’t decide to tell me?”
 
"It wasn't me," Akane said, a bit too quickly. She managed to catch herself and regain her composure as co-leader of the guild. Looking to others, her eyes settled on Mattias again, whom she knew had an avid interest in plants. "It wasn't you, was it?" It was at times like this she lamented how cold she sounded.[/justified]

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Trailing behind at the very back of the group, Inali tried to take her mind off the blazing heat by waving one of her two fans at her face. Sweat can be visibly seen run down her mostly uncovered body, much to delight of male bystanders. Inali tried to ignore their gaze, but she can't deny that she loves the attention they are giving her. All that's in her head is to quickly return to the guild base and grab a cold drink, and take a cold shower. Basically anything that can distract her from the heat. Still though, she tried her best to hide her obvious discomfort, keeping her ladylike demeanor completely intact.

 

The market district is just as interesting as she remembered it to be. Beautiful cloths, interesting food and objects, as well as the occasional soothing melody of a street performer's instruments. If it weren't for the fact that she's on on the way to claim a quest reward, she would definitely have separated from the group, trying on new cloths, jewellery, or maybe even dance to the tune of a street performer. No matter how hot or uncomfortable the weather is, Inali is definitely always looking forward to perform. But alas, she must bury those thoughts for now. Maybe later when there are no quests to do, or quest rewards to claim can she spend another day playing around in the market.

 

As the group reached the bulletin board, their destination, she walked on without paying any attention to the road in front of her, instead focusing on a necklace seller to her right. This means that when Yohta suddenly stopped and spun around, she barely had any time to stop walking and thus almost bumped the person in front of her.

 

"Okay, guys. Which one of you grabbed that damned cactus flower and didn’t decide to tell me?”

 

"It wasn't me," "It wasn't you, was it?"

 

Watching the blame game get shifted around from the back of the group, Inali decided to step in once Akane decided it'd be a good idea to bully Mattias. "Ara ara~" With a jovial tone in her voice, Inali walked forward so that she now stands beside the Cleric. "It's rude to immediately point fingers at others, don't you think~? I'm sure Mattias here did nothing wrong." Lowering her fan down so Akane can see her face in the full, she made a wry smile at Akane before continuing. "Why don't you just be honest already? After all, it won't be good if our leader gets angry, right?" Though she is looking at the white-haired woman before her, her last two sentences were actually directed at all her guild mates.

[Mr. Hyde]

Finntas, with the evening sun blazing down upon him, gathered the rest of his strength to make it back into town.  Finally he could rest easy.  He wasn't as strong or as conditioned as his fellow Osprey guild mates.  He was the caster of the bunch, and everyone here called him Finn for short.  An excellent position for strategizing, but the exact opposite when it came to physical activities.  
 
But he had come a long way since then.  Since the day Lore Online locked him into this place.  He wasn't mad or anything, more relieved actually.  Lore Online really got him into shape!  Strange as seeing this place was just a bunch of code...or was it.  Finntas was no longer sure what was real and was digital anymore.  This sure felt real though.  His exhaustion showed through the sweat dripping down his face and his gasping for fake oxygen.  
 
Just as he was on the verge of collapsing, body held up against his staff to support himself as he walked, he bumped into the others.  
 
"Ah geez....what's the deal now!" he panted.  
 
"Okay, guys. Which one of you grabbed that damned cactus flower and didn’t decide to tell me?”  He heard Yohta question.  Finn was kind of sketched out by Yohta, but he admired him as a player.   
 
"It wasn't me," "It wasn't you, was it?" Akane of course chimed in first, the accusing the little cleric boy Mattias.  She was always prone to getting ahead of everyone else.
 
Inali also spoke up as well, claiming chibinnocence for Mattias and then accusing the rest of the guild members.
 
"Well it wasn't...Cacti.....but i'm sure it must've be one of...Cact...US!"  Finn said grinning wildly.

[Astolfo]

Merrily walking along the cobbled roads of the town with her fellow guildmates, Haruka nearly collided into Mattias when Yohta had suddenly stopped and called out,  causing Akane who was wandering off towards an armor stall  to freeze and turn back, causing a twitch of mirth to make its way across the Lancer's face..  Curiously peering around to see the cause of the hold up, Haruka tried to recall if she had came into possession of a cactus flower any time recently, but couldn't think of anything. Looking towards Mattias when Akane called the green-thumbed cleric out, one part of Haruka's mind said it was most likely it was Mattias since he had the closest connection to plants, the other saying that Mattias was too innocent to have done some mischief like this.

 

When Inali poked her head in and implicated it was Akane, Haruka whirled around to face the girl before calming herself down and reminding herself to stop overreacting to prods towards her friend. Of course, at that very moment, Finntas had to butt his head in with an awful pun that made even Haruka groan. Sighing, Haruka decided she would stick up for Akane, but started talking before she fully formulated an idea of what to say in her head.

 

[font=lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif][color=#FF66A6]"Y-You guys, don't accuse Aka-chan like that! There's no reason she'd have taken it, right? Right...?"[/color][/font] Right after finishing this declaration, Haruka turned and leaned in close to Akane, whispering much too loud. [font=lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif][color=#FF66A6][i]"Wait, you didn't actually take it though, right Aka-chan? Right?"[/i][/color][/font] Turning back to the rest of the group, Haruka giggled nervously slightly before mumbling a, [font=lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif][color=#FF66A6]"I mean... Aka-chan probably wouldn't have taken it, I think..."[/color][/font] 

[Sethera]

The sky...it's so beautiful, Matthias thought dazedly. Like the petals of a red cactus flower. The small boy once again marveled at the realism of Lore Online. It was one of the small things that made life more bearable here. But he was a fan of the small things.

 

Such as the scent of spices in the air. Going from his nose he could smell sage, dill, and coriander. He breathed a small sigh of happiness, step gaining a skip. Sometimes, he wasn't sure what to feel, about all this, but mainly about being plopped into the middle of a desert. Deserts didn't have much in the way of vegetation, at least not compared to back home in Hakone. It was a small town, on the eastern side of Hakone Pass, walled by mountains.

 

But even the desert had its fair share of plants. Such as the small cactus flower in his inventory. Matthias blushed in embarrassment just thinking about it. Taking it...without telling anybody...had been sneaky. But he couldn't resist. It had been so lovely, with its fragile red tepals, its forest of stamens ringing the single elegant style. He had wanted to admire it a little longer, before they had to turn it in to complete the quest.

 

As if his thoughts had reached Tiger Lily, their guildmaster, the dark-haired man had started trailing his finger through the air in the familiar gesture of somebody looking through the heads-up display, or HUD as everybody called it. Matthias winced when the finger froze, and the owner's spine stiffened like the neighborhood cat that always clawed up the catnip he grew in his garden. Used to grow, he corrected sadly. Ever since that fated day, "Lockdown Day," life had been all sorts of messed-up.

 

The man stopped abruptly, causing a domino effect that resulted in Matthias' face pressed awkwardly against White Lily, the co-leader's, armored back. Their guildmaster whipped around, his cat-like eyes making his expression look twice as ferocious. “Okay, guys. Which one of you grabbed that damned cactus flower and didn’t decide to tell me?”

 

"It wasn't me," White Lily shot off a beat later, eyes roving the group briefly before settling on Matthias. "It wasn't you, was it?"

 

Before he could reply, the group tamer, Jasmine, a small, blond-haired girl with the grace of a fairy, spoke up in his defense.  "Ara ara~" She walked forward to stand beside him, "It's rude to immediately point fingers at others, don't you think~? I'm sure Matthias here did nothing wrong. Why don't you just be honest already? After all, it won't be good if our leader gets angry, right?"

 

Resigning himself to public embarrassment, the small blond boy was about to step forward when the group shaman, Pansy, chimed in. "Well it wasn't...Cacti.....but i'm sure it must've be one of...Cact...US!"

 

"..." Matthias stared briefly at the brunette before shaking his head wildly. I should be used to this by now...right? He didn't have much social experience, so it was hard to tell, but from what little he knew, he was apparently in a group of weirdoes. Not like he had room to say anything, though.

 

White Spider Lily, the group's other cheerful girl, piped up at this point. "Y-You guys, don't accuse Aka-chan like that! There's no reason she'd have taken it, right? Right...?" She immediately ruined her defense when she whispered, loud enough for everybody to hear, into White Lily's ear. "Wait, you didn't actually take it though, right Aka-chan? Right?" Matthias wanted to smack his face at this point. While Jasmine hadn't really said that White Lily had taken it, White Spider Lily's words were making it seem like she had. "I mean... Aka-chan probably wouldn't have taken it, I think..."

 

"U-Um...guys...um..." Matthias stammered. "Um...I took it...sorry," he finished the last words with a wince.

[Aix]

Indeed, it was quite rude of her to immediately single out Matthias like that, even if he did actually take it, Akane realized. It was true he was the most likely option, but nevertheless, once more, she ended up antagonizing others. Life was so much easier when she devoted herself to studying or cutting down enemies, but as the co-leader, she couldn't just do that, she had to lead these people. Somewhere, doubt crept into her heart about her own capability, but she kept it bottled up inside. Uncertainty was the bane of many.

Finn failed to really lighten the mood at that point with his silly joke, but as always, Haruka dived into the fray to defend her. It didn't really matter that Haruka didn't really accomplish much with her clumsy speech, Akane felt a twinge of affection for her long time friend. The girl had a warm nature which Akane felt herself very much lacking, and she was comforted to have Haruka always be her side.

"U-Um...guys...um... um...I took it...sorry."

It was remarkable the way the dynamic of the situation suddenly changed, and Akane was at the same time relieved. The others broke into comforting the nervous-looking boy with cries of "No worries" and "It's fine", while Akane simply walked over to receive the flower from him.

"Thank you," she said, calmly but sincerely. She held up the flower to her eyes to inspect it closely. "I understand why you would want to admire it." Then she turned from him and laid it into Yohta's hand. "Quest complete."

[Ren✧]

If there was one place in Lore that Tadashi could truly say that he hated, it would be Dubhe. He didn't hate it because of its crowded nature or because it was always so damned hot. He hated it because it reminded him a lot of the tours he had done in the 'real world'. It felt strange to call his past life that: 'real'. Ever since Lockdown Day, Lore had become more and more of a reality to him. The fact that this world was really only made up of mouse clicks and keystrokes often became lost between the bow shots and knife swings. And it wasn't just him.

 

It was actually pretty common to hear of players losing touch with what was deemed 'real' and 'not real'. Tadashi had a theory about that. That the longer you were in Lore, the more real it became. Not because you became accustomed to its sights and features. Not because you would start to forget about a time where everything wasn't quests and battles. But because to survive here, Lore had to become something so much more to you than a game.

 

As Tadashi continued to ponder this issue, he realized that the rest of the group had stopped a few paces behind him. Having been walking slightly removed from the group, as was often the case, Tadashi hadn't noticed the halt right away. Rejoining them, he listened to see what was the matter. 

 

It appeared that the object of their newly completed quest had gone missing. Tadashi refrained from making any accusations. Doing that would just ruffle feathers. It would be best if he just kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything. That way, at least, he wouldn't catch the attention of the others. Already he was too often the subject of suspicion in their small guild. He didn't want to give them any more reason to distrust him. 

 

He did catch Finn's clever, and overly cheesy, joke. Attempting to catch the Shaman's eye, he gave Finn half a smile and a wink in appreciation of the joke. Too often the members of Osprey became caught up in the seriousness of things, it was refreshing to have someone around that wasn't afraid to laugh a little.Finally, Matthias spoke up, laying claim to the missing cactus flower. Tadashi wasn't surprised. He had been pretty sure he had caught the Cleric giving Yohta a few guilty looks on the way back into town. 

 

It was really of no consequence. The young-looking boy was far to naive to do anything devious, like taking the flower and the rewards it would garner, all for himself. No, his actions were done simply out of intrigue. No harm, no foul. 

[bury the year]

From behind Akane and Haruka, Matthias sheepishly grinned and held his hand out, and the elusive flower appeared. Yohta sighed inwardly. He should’ve known the cleric would be the one to grab the item and not let anyone know. Matti was a talented healer, he’d give him that much credit, but the boy had his head stuck so far in the clouds that he sometimes wasn’t touching earth.

Brushing the doting Haruka and Inali aside, Akane took the flower from Matthias and stepped forwards, the blossom rotating gently as it floated above her palms. "Quest complete."

Yohta was the only one whose face remained unmoved by pity. He accepted the lazily-spinning flower from Akane and mentally commanded it into his inventory, watching as the petals blossom dissolved into pixels of light. “Right.” The eyes of Osprey’s leader flickered across his guildmates once more, settling on the young Cleric for the briefest of moments. “Next time, Matthias, just speak up. It doesn’t bode well if we can’t communicate here, much less in the field.” Although the words could easily be taken harshly, there was not an ounce of admonishment in the rogue’s tone. Only the faintest amount of exhaustion tinged his words.

With that said, more pressing matters could be attended to. “Okay, everyone, you’re dismissed for the evening. Keep the Guild Alert on so I can ping you if need be. Otherwise… I don’t know. Get your armor fixed, go shopping, grab some foo-”

That last one was punctuated by Yohta’s stomach grumbling quite loudly.

“Yeah, you heard my stomach right,” he added with a faint smile, noting the giggles coming from his teammates. “Akane, I’ll catch up with you after I’m done. Just tell me where you plan on being and I’ll find you there. With that said, get out of my sight. We’ll meet at the normal place.” A genuine smile followed, although on Yohta’s face it was more of a smirk than anything else.

Once everyone had scattered to attend to their own affairs, Yohta turned once more and strode off. The flower was firmly lodged in his inventory and his plans for the evening stuck equally as tight in his mind. Find the old lady who needed to craft a potion, rendezvous with Akane. Then get some not so tasty food - he wasn’t going to waste time nor money on anything more than rice gruel tonight.

His stomach growled again. Maybe food first, Akane second. Yeah, that’ll do.

[Ren✧]

Tadashi nodded briefly at his guildmates, giving them a brief wave of farewell before detaching himself from the group. He wasn't worried about following up with Yohta about his share of the reward for the quest. Their guild leader may be a bit greedy, but he had never, to Tadashi's knowledge, shorted anyone on their fair share. He trusted the rogue. He looked out for his guildmates and that's all that Tadashi could really ask. Anything else could be overlooked.

 

For now, Tadashi was content with lazing around until the guild's next assignment. He didn't have many that he could call his friend, per say, but the local shopkeepers were always friendly enough. Plus, it didn't hurt that Tadashi was a pretty frequent customer. Shopping tended to take his mind off of the scenery. Anything to help him forget his own trials in the desert was very much welcome. So, he began to browse the local shops, searching for anything that peaked his interest. 

 

Talking to a fletcher, whom Tadashi guessed was most likely an NPC, he noticed a number of new arrows for sell. Each boasted an array of interesting features and Tadashi eagerly wanted to try them out. Unfortunately, his wallet wasn't as eager. His funds were pretty meager at the moment. Recently, he'd been spending a lot of money on cooking ingredients. He had grown tired of the same gruel day in and day out, so he'd decided to polish up his cooking skills and make some better tasting meals for himself. Unfortunately, fresh ingredients were tough to come by out here and when they did appear, they were pretty pricey. 

 

Settling on buying a half dozen arrows that had been dipped in the venom of a Desert Scorpion, Tadashi tore himself away from the merchandise and thanked the clerk for his service. "What to do now?" He wondered aloud.

[Aix]

"I only have a quick errand before I'll meet you at the guild house," said Akane. Finally, she was able to walk off, but she went farther than the vendor she had seen earlier and in a destination a block from the central district.

Akane stepped into the old armorer's shop, sounding the chime that had been hung over the curtain doorway. It was a small and unimpressive building, made of simple cob walls to keep the desert heat out, and it was not popular, suiting Akane just fine as she enjoyed the tranquility of the dimly lit environment. Few people had realized the owner's skill was among the best in Lore. He had been renowned in the legendary city of Benetnash... before its fall.

Escaping the fall, Akane learned the old smith actually had intended to retire, but could not help continuing what he had done all his life. He seemed focused solely on creating and repairing armors, however, losing any customers hoping for weaponry or the convenience of a single stop for both weapons and armors.

Hearing the chime, a diminutive figure came out from the back room. "Are you here for a new armor finally, Akane?" The man himself did not seem any more impressive than his shop, he was very old now, and grief had robbed him of his vitality. Despite one involved in the industry of war, the smith had a soft, gentle face, like a venerable great-grandfather and Akane felt the natural need to show deference to him, as any respectable Japanese youth should.

"I can't go spending so much money for a new suit," she said. She knew Yohta rather liked them to hold onto their profits and Haruka and Inali spent enough as it is.

The old man narrowed his eyes as Akane revealed the crater in the armor. She heaved it off and set it on the counter with the resounding clanking of the plates. "Can you repair this?" she asked, although she was well aware he could.

"You need to take better care of yourself AND you need some better armor, miss," he said, looking closer. "Too reckless. Too, too reckless."

"That's none of your business," Akane said simply.

The old man's eyes flared. "No, you're wrong there. My business is, indeed, keeping my customers alive. All this time, I've been working... working on how to best keep my important customers alive, you see." He seemed to be hinting at something, but Akane did not inquire.

"This is already the most expensive armor I can commission, I bought it on your advice," said Akane, justifying herself. "A Mirror Plate armor, custom fit for minimal strength and agility penalties. I know some of the higher members in Joshua Tree are also aware of your talents and make use of them, but I... I lack the resources they have." She paused. "I need to go meet someone back at the guild... I'll pick the armor up later."

That meant she was asking for a full repair rather than a quick one, where the smith would use true smithing methods rather than the system dialogue. It cost considerably more due to the time and effort, and most smiths did not even offer the service. However, the true repair maintained the full integrity of the custom fit and the power of any enchantments on the armor.

The old smith stared at the girl as she left and gave a concerned sigh before hobbling into his back room to begin the repair.

[Mr. Hyde]

At last the mystery had been solved!  The dubious Mattias had hidden the flower from the team the entire time, trying to use his cuteness as a weapon to throw everyone off guard!  Everyone besides Finn of course.  He snickered at the thought of Mattias being anything other than an innocent kid with a love for flora.  He gave the kid a pat on the back.  

 

"Hey at least you had the guts to tell the truth, especially to Yohta.  That guy still gives me the jitters!"  He said half-lovingly and half-serious.  With a simple trade to the leader, the quest had been completed.  Now everyone was free to roam the city of Dubhe until the next meeting that would take place in the guild house.    

 

"Alright losers!  I'll be off then!"  Finn said with a playful smile on his face.  He made sure to give Tadashi a thumbs up for acknowledging his humor.  What could Finn say, the man had good taste in jokes.  Finn walked away from the group as both Tadashi and Akane had.  Dubhe wasn't his favorite place in the world of Lore.  That spot was reserved for Megrez.  Maybe once they obtained enough gilders, they could move there guild base to the calm island chain.  Wishful thinking of course, seeing as real estate on that archipelago must be for the top players who rake in the most dough.  But this was a goal that Finn strived for for his guild!  Or maybe it was a selfish idea...He still loved the cozy enclosure of the current guild house.  He hadn't realized, but Finn made his way into his favorite shop in the city.

 

"Welcome to the Dubhe Booklet!"  A familiar NPC chimed.  Her name read Chieko on Finn's HUD.  Finn gave her a warm smile and continued on in.  He claimed to be very knowledgeable about all of the things Lore had to offer, but Finn still studied in his spare time.  Monsters, landmarks, and legends were all things Finn grazed while looking for some new information.  He picked up a book labeled "What Lies beneath the Sands", a rare book that dedicated it pages to describing the monsters that take residence within sandy field locations.  

 

"Ooooh, Giant Sand Scorpions you say...their venom is used for poisoning weapons such as Rogue knives and Archer arrows?  I bet Tadashi would love this info!"  He scrolled through pages noting beasts such as Giant Sand Worms and an infamous creature, Mother Antlion.  An epic beast that created traps for unsuspecting players who dare tread on unstable sand.  He shuddered at the thought of falling into those pincers that had shredded so many players before him.  Of course, he had the scenario all planned out...he had to.  So many things could catch a player off guard in this world, it was nice to be well informed on such topics so one might be able to come up with counter measures for such unlucky encounters.  He closed the book and took it to the register.  

 

"What a lucky guy you are Finn!  This book is one of the rarer ones in our collection, i can't believe nobody has scooped it up yet!"  The register dinged with a slightly higher price than Finn expected.  

 

"Better read than dead..." Finn said under his breath, paying Chieko the hefty price.  "Hey Chieko!  Do you know which buildings have the most stories!?"  Finn tried to lighten his own mood by getting this girl with one of his best. 

 

"Which ones Mister Finn?"  Chieko tilted her head in curiosity.

 

"The Library!" Finn exclaimed.  A moment had to pass for the girl to fully decipher the masterfully thought of joke.  At the moment of realization, a faint giggle was heard.  Whether it was the bookstore owner who did it, or Finn trying to keep his composure is a different question.  The girl wasn't as used to jokes, not may players gave NPC's the light of day.  Finn made sure to make the girl smile every time he visited his favorite shop.  "I'll catch you later Chieko!"  He said as he left the store.  Finn wasn't sure of his next destination, so he leisurely made his way to the guild house.  

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

"Oh... It seems I was wrong in the end." Inali calmly closed her eyes and folded her fan, pausing and sighing for a bit before putting her fan away, revealing the warm smile the guild loves her for. "Well, as long as you don't it anything like that again, okay~?" She said to the short little cleric, petting his head gently.  Now that the reward has been claimed, Inali can breath easy knowing she'll both have time and money to scour all the corners of Dubhe's central marketplace. Looking around, she saw that pretty much everyone has left to do something. Yohta, Akane and Tadashi both went to buy armors and stuff, Finn went somewhere else, and even though Matthias is still there, he isn't the type Inali is looking for to accompany her that day. At least, not yet...

 

Luckily, the other option is Haruka, someone she honestly enjoys going out with. With a coy smile, she snuck up behind Akane's sister and suddenly hugged her back. "Surprise~! Say, Haruka, didn't we just get a load of cash from that mission? What do you think about a girls day out in Dubhe's city center? Just you and me, you know~? Getting our nails done, buying pretty new clothes..." Inali continued her persuasion by gently nuzzling her face against Haruka's back, the tone in her voice fluctuating between excited and persuasive. "How about it? If you're up for it, go meet me at the large fountain in the center of the center marketplace!" Letting of her hug, the dragon dancer skipped off to the meeting place merrily, but not before quickly copping a feel of Haruka's breasts.

 

[divider1]

 

The epicenter of the marketplace is honestly not a very spectacular place. There is a large, beautiful fountain sitting in the middle of it where kids often throw coins in there, but aside from that and the fact that it has the highest street performer concentration anywhere in Dubhe, it's not at all remarkable. Still, Inali is the type of girl who can find joy even in relatively boring places, and this type is no exception. She stood by the edge of the fountain, whistling a tune while she observed the area surrounding her. Kids, street performers, NPCs, Player Characters... A lot of people walked by her every second. People of all kinds. Every NPC and PC can be physically differentiated with a glance, despite the numbers easily reaching upwards of a thousand characters. Such is the wonders of technology, she thought.

 

"Miss! Excuse us, but may we ask you of a request?" Out of the blue, she was approached by a group of NPCs. Judging by their matching uniform, the instruments they carry, as well as the fact that they show up as "Traveling Band" in her HUD, they appear to be a musical group of some sort. One of them, apparently called "Mahmud" according to the HUD, spoke up to Inali first. A sitar is in his hand, while the four others behind him carry various instruments, some she's never even seen before.

 

"A request? What might it be? If it is not too difficult, I shall try my best to help!" She replied with her usual gleeful smile. The instruments they carry are most intriguing to the young dancer. A pair of tall gentlemen stood farthest behind, carrying what appears to be two large, ornate drums, but they look dissimilar to the traditional Japanese drums she knows of. The short fellow standing beside Mahmud is carrying a thin, Shamisen-like instrument, but unlike a Shamisen, it instead has a bow, akin to a violin.

 

"We are a traveling group of musicians who seek to bring joy and entertainment to Dubhe. We believe that a young, beautiful dancer such as you will be able to bring our song to a wider audience!" With enthusiasm, Mahmud replied to Inali.

 

"Aaaa~ Is that so~? Well, I am indeed intrigued at what your instruments sound like... However. I am here waiting for someone, and as much as I love to dance, I do not want to make her wait. So maybe..."

 

It feels like a major waste to turn down an opportunity to perform right in front of several thousand people, but in any case, she promised Haruka for a day out, and she's not gonna make her wait.
 

[Astolfo]

When Inali snuck up behind her after Yohta had gave them the okay to go and have fun for a little bit, Haruka was about to turn to take a look at the nearby markets knowing she shouldn't probably bother Akane, when Inali snuck up behind her and embraced her in a hug. Yelping with surprise momentarily, she calmed back down when she realized who it was. Smiling, she ruffled Inali's hair slightly. When the energetic young girl proposed having a girls day out, Haruka giggled slightly, nodding. Turning red slightly and letting out a small "Eep!" when the girl grabbed her breasts before dashing off, Haruka sighed slightly afterwards. Thinking about the fun she'd get to have together while exploring all the various vendors made her smile quickly again and Haruka skipped along the road towards the fountain.

As she was about to step into the center place though, an idea popped into Haruka's head. Grinning widely, she started sliding through the crowd of people around towards the back. After having made a half circle turn, Haruka quietly tip-toed up behind Inali to try and surprise her when the dancer girl's voice rang out, sing-song. "Hey Haruka~♫" Pouting momentarily when she realized her plan was foiled, Haruka cheered up immediately again, wrapping Inali up in a [acronym="Read: Inali's face buried inside"]big frontal bearhug[/acronym] before taking her hand and tugging towards the areas where all the shops and vendors were located. "Come on, let's go~!" Bouncing with almost as energy as Inali, the two of them quickly ran over towards the first shop they could see, which happened to be selling candied apples. Tossing money at the shopowner, they took two before running to look at the next shop, crunching through their snacks. Skidding to a halt at a decently renown clothing store labeled "Athena's", Haruka's eyes widened with excitement, even after having been to this place multiple times.

Running inside, Haruka started looking at the various options they had up for sale, trying to consider which section she wanted to look at first. Deciding after a few seconds, Haruka searched around for the sector with the stuff she was looking for. When her eyes found the isle, they lit up with a mischievous light. Grabbing Inali's hand and dashing over to the isle, Haruka skidded to a stop at the entrance, before proclaiming with a humorous dramatic voice,

"LINGERIE!"

[Sethera]

“Next time, Matthias, just speak up. It doesn’t bode well if we can’t communicate here, much less in the field.”

 

Matthias nodded, shame staining his cheeks red. He had had his doubts about taking the flower in the first place, but it was even worse now that his actions had caused strife within the guild. While it hadn't lasted long, the boy couldn't stop the lingering traces of guilt that had formed in his stomach like a stone. It hadn't helped that he had almost gotten White Lily in trouble, though she had been very nice about it, even thanking him.

 

Not that Tiger Lily was mad. He knew that much at least. The man was just giving him advice for the future. That was one of the reasons Matthias had joined the guild, after all. He hadn't had any prior experience in these "virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing games" or VRMMORPGs for short, or MMORPGs in general. No, he had only played single-player RPGs before, so when he had been dropped into Lore Online, he had known absolutely nothing on basic player-to-player interaction. However, his class had apparently been a popular one when it came to joining parties or guilds, so he had gotten all sorts of invitations. It had overwhelmed him, so he ended up accepting.

 

However...when the various parties and guilds found out he knew absolutely nothing about working with other people, they had ignored and eventually kicked him out. The only person who had taken the time to sit down and teach him these things had been Tiger Lily. And even now, he was still learning from him. For this reason, Matthias would follow Tiger Lily anywhere. And it was also for this reason that he felt terrible for adding to the man's exhaustion.

 

By now, the dark-haired guildmaster had turned away from Matthias a bit to face the whole group, “Okay, everyone, you’re dismissed for the evening. Keep the Guild Alert on so I can ping you if need be. Otherwise… I don’t know. Get your armor fixed, go shopping, grab some foo-” his stomach grumbled, alerting everybody that he needed to be watered. Though Matthias had been able to tell before, because the man had been drooping just like his namesake did when in need of water. “Akane, I’ll catch up with you after I’m done. Just tell me where you plan on being and I’ll find you there. With that said, get out of my sight. We’ll meet at the normal place.”

 

The boy got a couple comforting comments from the other guild members, which had worked wonders to improve his mood. Pansy, for instance, gave off a very warm feeling, the same he got whenever he looked at the colorful blossoms. And Jasmine had been kind as well, but then she had gone and given him a pat on the head!

 

Matthias scrunched up his face and pouted, wishing, once again, that he were taller.

 

--

 

Afterward, everybody had gone their separate ways, including himself. He was headed to a small shop dedicated to providing those with the farming life skill the necessities, such as fertilizer, seeds, tools, etc. Compared to skills such as smithing or tailoring, which were in high demand, farming wasn't nearly as popular. Especially in the middle of the desert, a climate far removed from the temperate mountains of Japan.

 

Navigating the winding alleys and roads of Dubhe had taken some getting used to, but by now Matthias could say he had memorized the city with a fair bit of confidence. Still, he hadn't had to go far. His destination was on the outskirts of the Central Market District, on the outer edge of a small cluster of shops. From what Matthias had seen, most of the places that sold supplies for life skills had their own buildings, but there were a fair number of street vendors that sold food, accessories, and various other wares.

 

The wooden sign hung over the door swayed in the wind. It had a rough painting of a green sprout embedded in a small clump of dirt, the symbol for farming. The boy opened the door while calling out a greeting that chimed in tune with the small bell above the frame. The store's inside was surprisingly clean. It had a few racks displaying tools, as well as bags of fertilizer and mulch that lay piled underneath shelves of seed packets and potted plants. The selection was fairly sparse and alien compared to what he was used to, such as the daikon radish and and cherry seedlings that frequented the shop back in Hakone, but it still smelled like home.

 

For that reason alone Matthias tended to hang around the place like a second shopkeeper, and had somehow managed to befriend the NPC who ran the place. The knowledge that the person was an NPC didn't make talking to him any easier, but the man had an affable manner that reminded Matthias a little of a box plant.

 

A young girl who looked to be about ten, the man's granddaughter, looked up from her perusal of a potted coneflower. "Oh, hello Matti! Are you here for the nastoo...nastydums that came in yesterday?" She held her hands behind her back shyly, cheeks slightly pink. She had the typical walnut-toned skin, black hair, and brown eyes of many of the NPCs in the area, and wore a cheerful yellow dress with orange flowers printed on it. The only oddity was the Western-style sunhat that lay plopped over her head. Her cheerful exuberance reminded him of a daisy.

 

The boy shot Daisy a nervous smile. He still wasn't quite sure what to think about her. She seemed to have no sense of personal space and got mad whenever he didn't pay attention to her. "Um...yes, Areej, do you know where your grandfather is?"

The girl thought for a second before nodding with a gap-toothed smile. "He's in the back! I'll go get him!" she ran to the doorway behind the counter, yelling "Grandpa, grandpa, Matti's here! He came for the nastydums!"

 

A soft laugh, along with a "It's nasturtiums, dear, but thank you," and Box, an older man with a graying beard entered the room from the doorway. He had the same brown skin as his granddaughter and wore a plain earth-colored kaftan and a white headcloth as well as a smile that wrinkled at the corners. "Hello there, young Matti. Here for the nasturtiums? And how are the red yuccas?"

 

"Yes, Jinan, sir. And they're...uh...doing well," Matthias mumbled, before looking up, eagerness coloring his tone, "Uh...I planted them in the sun, no shade like you told me to. I've started getting some buds all around the stalks, kind of like thorns, and I think they might be ready to bloom soon!"

 

Box chuckled, "Good, good, that's good to hear. As for the nasturtium seeds, they'll be five hundred gilder per packet."

 

"Oh okay," Matthias went over to the shelf, picking up multiple packets of nasturtium seeds. Each time he grabbed a packet, another appeared in its place. Bringing the full contingent of packets to the front, he counted out the gilder, and with a small ding the transaction was completed.

 

"By the way, I don't think I ever asked. What are you going to use the nasturtiums for?" the old man asked, "Appearance? Edibles? Companion plants?"
 

"All three," Matthias replied, "I really love the sunset colors of the blossoms, but I'm planning on harvesting the unripe seed pods for use in vinegar, since Whi-I mean Haruka asked about flavorings--"

 

"All right, all right! Enough boring talk! Matti, what do you think of my dress?" Daisy twirled in a circle. "It has pretty flowers!"

 

"Um...yes, yes it does," Matthias nodded, smiling uneasily. Why is she asking me? I don't know the first thing about clothes. "Very pretty."

 

Box snorted, "All right, Areej, better leave the young man alone. He has things to do, doesn't he?"

 

Matthias took the out gratefully, "Yes, sir, I have to visit the apothecary before it closes tonight." He started inching for the door, calling out a quick farewell before fleeing the vicinity to the pair's cheery goodbyes. As the boy ran along the street toward the pharmacy store, he shook his head. For NPCs, they sure acted like people. They were just as difficult to deal with as well. I prefer my plants, he thought. Much less confusing.

[bury the year]

Osprey’s members dissipated, each in their own direction, until Yohta was left alone. The rogue didn’t blame them for not wanting to stick around. They had had a long day, and being with the same group of people for so long demanded that one got some alone time every so often. When the last robe swished around the corner of the market, Yohta walked into the central square proper. It was relatively quiet, with many of Lore’s denizens having packed up to go home for the evening. However, there were still a few milling about, both NPC and player alike.

He knew exactly whom of those he was looking for. Sitting on the stone rim of the fountain was an squat old woman, in her seventies or eighties if Yohta had to pick a year. Her skin was nut-brown and wrinkled like the bark of a tree - time had evidently inscribed its mark on the elder. A sand-brown cloak and a riotously embroidered headscarf covered the majority of her body, so at a distance she looked nothing more than a heap of fabric lying on the tile. However, as Yohta approached, she straightened up and stood off the stone rim.

The rogue stopped walking. "Nafisa,” Yohta said, giving a polite bow in the elderly woman’s direction. Her eyes, once an astonishing shade of sky blue but now milky with age, took a few seconds to focus in on the rogue’s general vicinity.

“Ah, Yohta.” She returned the bow. “So nice of you to stop by. And at such a late hour, too! That’s uncommon for you.” The woman’s eyes closed once more as her face momentarily screwed up into a smile. ”How are your guildmates doing, by the way? It’s been a day or two since I last saw them all together.”

This statement gave Yohta pause, and a faint look of guilt flashed across his face. ”Ah yes, about that. Sorry for not getting the ingredient to you earlier. We’ve had a backlog of missions to complete, and I hope your grandson’s okay, and-"

Yohta’s rambles were cut off as Nafisa raised her palm. "I understand, Yohta.” Her voice was the epitome of patience, one that didn’t mind needing to wait a day after years had already passed. "He’s better now. His temperature is stable and he’s actually taking liquids. Although I appreciate your concern. I was getting worried you’d forgotten about us!” she added with a conspiratorial wink.

Osprey’s venerable guild leader was about to start sweating again if a cackle of laughter hadn’t stopped it. ”Oh, don’t look so worried, boy!” Nafisa smiled once again. “Let’s just see that flower now and I can get you your reward.” Yohta nodded and opened his inventory, removing the cactus flower. It spun to life in a whirl of red on his palm and gently floated over to the woman, resting between her now-outstretched hands. She clapped, and the flower shattered into pixels as it entered the NPC inventory.

“<<Quest Complete.>> Thank you, Yohta. My grandson’s indebted to you.” Nafisa nodded as Yohta heard a faint whirring. His HUD was updating with his portion of the quest’s rewards - some went to a “shared account” for guild activities while the rest went to each member as allowance. “And I shan’t be keeping you any longer, my boy.” The woman withdrew a gnarled wooden cane from some hidden pocket of her cloak and began to walk off. “Sleep well!”

”You too, Nafisa.” Yohta waved to the grateful grandmother and watched until her bobbing headscarf was swallowed back into the crowd. He was about to turn to leave the square and find dinner when a voice stopped him in his path, inquiring loudly about the plaza.

“Joshua Tree? Is there someone from Joshua Tree here?”

'What a puzzling request,' Yohta thought. It was more the fact that there should’ve been someone stationed there from the guild already - there wouldn’t normally be any need to ask. He stood in puzzlement as the voice echoed, growing louder and louder in urgency - “Anyone? Anyone!?” - until:

THWOK!

A body smacked into Yohta from behind, almost sending him flying. Anger flashed across his face, and he turned and was about to deliver some comeuppance to the intruder until he saw who it was. A female monk was lying flat on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Yohta with an expression that was part fear and part utter distress. “Uh… can I… help you?” he said hesitantly.

“Yui-cchi’s been caught by an Antlion Prince and everyone’s left Lazur since night fell and now there’s only Tokiwo out there to help her and I’m scaaaared!” The monk (whose name was Milly, level 15, judging by the HUD) wailed the whole sentence out in one breath, and a bubble of snot started to form near the end.

The gears in Yohta’s brain whirred as he processed the information. The reason why Lazur was probably so deserted was that monsters tended to become stronger at night. That was fine if you were a higher-leveled fighter, but if you were relatively weak and just wanted to do some farming quests when people weren’t around…

He pulled Milly upright. “I’ll help out. Did you come from Lazur from the normal entrance?”

Milly nodded wordlessly, still gasping through the sobs. “Quickly!” She took Yohta’s offer and literally ran with it, sprinting off with a speed technique - ’Shukuchi, and with decent control,’ Yohta thought in approval - in the direction of the western gate. The rogue saw no need to delay and sprinted off with his own technique, easily matching her speed and catching up.

As he ran, Yohta sent a ping to the other Osprey members. It would appear on their HUD as a momentary radar flash, showing his location to them and relaying their positions back to him. Pinging one’s guild members could only mean one thing: get to where I’m going, and fast. Luckily, it didn’t look like any of them were too far from the market square. Matti was probably the furthest out, so he may be getting there a bit late, but all the others should make it shortly after Yohta himself arrived at Lazur.

Yohta sighed as his stomach grumbled through the adrenaline. Another dinner delayed once again.

[spoiler=Where to Go]Get your asses to Lazur Alluvial Plains as quickly as possible - they're just outside the city walls. Check the encyclopaedia for details. You'll get more information there, but right now you have no clue why Yohta's summoning you or what you're about to face. You only know that it's urgent.[/spoiler]

[Aix]

Seeing the guild ping as she walking down the street towards the guild house, Akane had to weigh between quickly retrieving her armor or going there straight away. In the moment which the ping was activated, Yohta was moving at a fast speed on the radar, heading towards the western side of the city, and directly for the city outskirts. The plains? Akane wondered. Did some rare and profitable boss appear that would have mobilized that greedy rogue?
 
She decided. She couldn't be late to whatever urgent business Yohta was calling them for. Breathing deeply and crouching into a sprinter's stance, she directed the flow of her chi into her legs and the tips of her feet. The high speed and agility technique「Windrunner」activated. Akane burst forwards with slight redirects left and right to weave through the crowd and through the twisting streets of the city itself. Her Agility stat was nowhere near the Speed category Yohta, but she had invested a good deal of points into it. To add to that, she was not weighed down by her armor this time. I should be the first to arrive to him, she thought. And she needed to be. She was a leader, she couldn't keep others waiting.
 
There was another ping as the cooldown on it ended. Akane narrowed her eyes. Yohta was moving slower than expected. In fact, she had almost caught up. Expending a bit more energy, she slightly upped her speed for a temporary boost. And there he was. There's no way she should have been able to catch up at all. She may have haphazardly gone through a few alleyways and jumped a few walls, but that simply could not make up for the sheer difference in stats. However, here they were, not even quite out of the city yet and Akane had found them. Then, she realized the cause there beside him.
 
A monk? What was going on? For some reason, Yohta was keeping pace with this Strength category girl, consequentially losing a lot of his speed. "Bring me up to date on the situation," she said, popping up at Yohta's other side as they entered the Lazur plains.

[Ren✧]

Tadashi pulled back on the bowstring, causing a small zoom screen to appear just above the head of the arrow. Looking with only his right eye, he quickly took aim at the target and fired the shot. The arrow hissed through the air and landed in the center of the straw target with a dull thud. Tadashi stifled a yawn. This mini-game had long since grown boring, but Tadashi often found himself at the firing range regardless. It may be monotonous, but it was a good way to keep his skills honed and to continue to level up his Archery Level, albeit quite slowly now, without depleting his supply of arrows. 

 

The archer was prepared to start another round, but before he could, a blinking dot appeared on his HUD. It appeared that Osprey's leader was requesting their attendance at the Lazur Alluvial Plains immediately. Without hesitation, Tadashi departed from the firing range and made a bee-line for the city's edge. Lazur laid on the banks of the river right outside of Dubhe. During the day, it was an easy hunting ground for low-leveled players to build up a decent amount of experience. However, at night, more powerful monsters tended to come out and play. Tadashi absentmindedly touched the silver arrows in his quiver. They would prove to be useful against any creatures of the night that might plague himself and his guild members.

 

Returning his attention to the ping, he noted that Akane had nearly caught up with Yohta at the outskirts of the city. It would only be a few more minutes before Tadashi himself would catch sight of them. He briefly wondered how Akane had made such good time. Sure, she had been closer to Yohta's position than himself, but his agility was also significantly higher than hers. Logically, they should have arrived at almost the exact same time.

 

Tadashi's puzzlement was resolved when he caught sight of the female knight. She was not wearing her armor, and thus was not slowed by its weight. Joining his to superiors, Tadashi addressed them with a slight bow of the head. He didn't need to ask why he had been summoned. Common sense told him that it had something to do with the young Monk that nervously waited at Yohta's side. Moreover, if he asked to be briefed now, then Akane and Yohta would just have to do so again when the other members of Osprey arrived. He would simply wait. 

 

Instead, he addressed the low-leveled Monk. "I am Tadashi." He introduced himself, trying to offer a friendly smile. Unfortunately, his efforts would most likely be in vain as the girl would most likely have already noticed his red tinged icon that so many Lore players regarded with fear and apprehension. 

[Mr. Hyde]

Finn walked through the market square fixated on his new book.  He had always been fascinated by the wildlife in the real world, but this fabricated reality had much more to offer.  It was filled with more mysticism and fascination.  There was no limit to the natural wonders this world possessed.  

 

A ring interrupted his thought process.  A ping on his HUD tore him away from his mind.  It was from Yohta.  And by the looks of things, it seemed that he was headed towards the west side of the city, near the Lazur Alluvial Plains Gate.  He seemed to be in a rush to.  Must be using his Speed class skill to get around town quicker.  

 

"Awwwwww GEEEEEEEEZ!  Not one moment of rest and our glorious leader's going all gung-ho."  He re-positioned his glasses.  "I'm sure its for a good reason though.  Spirits of the West Wind, guide me!.....or something like that!"  Finn exclaimed.  A gust of cold, soothing air flew past him, invigorating him and giving him the speed necessary to catch up with his guild leader.  "I surely don't want to not go and get on Yohta's bad side...thats for sure!"  He said snickering.  He leaped and bounded through the air, guided by his spirit helpers.  

 

"Sweet!  Akane and Tadashi are already on their ways!"  He thought as he saw his fellow guild mates displayed on HUD grow ever so close to each other.  catching up with the group he smiled, everyone else was running while he was jumping through the air with glee.  He greeted everyone with the usual goofy smile that he always did.  In the corner of his eye, he saw someone he didn't really notice on his HUD.  A small Monk girl, barely level 15 named Milly.  Using his supreme analytic skills, he could tell that this girl was probably in desperate need of help.  He snickered at Tohya.

 

"Awww you soft-hearted, one-eyed dragon you!"  he said poking fun at his leader.  Though getting on his bad side wasn't his intention, Finn jeered at everyone.  Tohya was no exception to this rule.  He might've seemed gruff and greedy, but that's the first couple of ingredients for a mushy gushy inside.  He gave the girl a thumbs-up.  "The name's Finn!  I'm sure whatever the problem is, Osprey's finest will surely have it handled in no time!"  The situation couldn't be so dire could it?  

[Astolfo]

In the middle of squabbling with Inali inside a rather compact changing room trying to shove each other into various pieces of lingerie, the emergency alarm ping, which was probably the worst possible time, given the current situation. Sighing as she was busy struggling into her regular clothes again as fast as she could, Haruka helped Inali do the same, before grabbing Inali's hand and bolting out of the store, yelling apologies to the clerks for the messes while throwing a few digital pieces of currency.

As much as the two of them would've liked to extend their rather energetic shopping trip, the ping was only for important situations, meaning ignoring them could result in anything from getting chewed out to someone dying. Haruka and Inali both nodded firmly, agreeing they needed to get there as fast as they could. Throwing Inali onto her back, Haruka shouted out, "Hold on tight!" Of course, Inali chose to latch her hands tightly onto Haruka's chest again, making the other girl let out a small 'eep!'. Sinking into an extremely low version of a runner's position, Haruka whispered, "Conqueror's Step."

"Snap, crackle, and pop, it's time for a BLAST, BABY!"

Channeling mana and pure power into her feet, Haruka quite literally explosively blasted off the ground, flying just barely over the ground in order to minimize energy use from not having to run as well as being able to keep track of things. Steering roughly by slamming her gloved palms against the nearest surfaces to rocket off of them, the duo tore through the air. Immediately realizing that Mathias, given his class and stature, would have a hard time making it there on time, Haruka smashed her hands against a brick wall to yank the two of them around, changing directions for a short detour to pick up Matthias.

Upon drawing close, Haruka literally busted through the door, causing the NPCs to start shouting in alarm and distress at her, waving their fists angrily. Apologizing heavily and throwing more of the money that was originally going to be blown on lingerie, she grabbed the young boy under her arm literally before sprinting back out. Jumping off the ground powerfully to place some distance faster, Haruka skidded to a rough stop, making sure they were both safe momentarily, before launching off again at a breakneck pace.

Hurtling through the alleyways at a terrifying pace, the three of them quickly managed to make out the spot the others were at. Pouring on a final burst of speed, Haruka ended up accidentally skidding past the group, lashing her hand out onto a nearby tree to stop her momentum. Haruka took a few moments to catch her breath, but recovered within a decently quick period of time.

Looking around at her fellow party members, she asked the question the others undoubtedly had on their minds, given they were all here.

"So, Boss, what's the lowdown?" Normally, Haruka would've probably called Yohta some nickname like "Yohtaron," or such, but instantly recognizing the seriousness of the situation after looking at the young monk and realizing the significance of the place they were in, Haruka wasn't in any sort of idea to mess around.

[Sethera]

Matthias hadn't expected to be swept off his feet as soon as he had entered the apothecary. Of course, he hadn't expected the ping to appear on his HUD either. Luckily, he hadn't started shopping, so he didn't have to exit out of any windows. Unluckily, he hadn't started shopping, so that meant he would be short on ingredients for that mana potion he had been working on. It restored a greater amount of mana than a regular potion, which would be useful for the guild during the times when he couldn't cast [Restore].

 

So one second, he was glancing at lavender oil, and the next second, he had been picked up by White Spider Lily under the effects of 「Conqueror's Step」. The boy had let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak, but had quickly resigned himself to being carried.

 

When they arrived and he had been set down, Matthias had spun on the spot, attempting to regain his sense of equilibrium. Going by the familiar fuzzy shapes, the whole guild was there already, with he, White Spider Lily, and Jasmine being the last to arrive (most likely because of him). By the time the boy recovered his wits, he caught the tail end of White Spider Lily's sentence: "--the lowdown?"

 

What was going on? Matthias glanced around. They were in the Lazur Alluvial Plains, or LAP as he called it. He had frequented this spot often at the beginning of his time in the game, working doggedly to increase his levels and return home. Now, however, he had plants here, and while they weren't actually real, they felt real. So most of his free time was indulged in gardening instead of leveling.

 

Aside from their group, there was a young female monk with tear stains on her cheeks that glowed faintly in the light of the newly-risen moon. She looks out of her depth, he thought. Like a rice crop that's lost its mosquito fern. Is that what we're here for, then? To get the mosquito fern back? Matthias felt a rush of admiration toward Tiger Lily, who had sacrificed his watering time for this. Even when a reward isn't on the line, Tiger Lily still tries his best to help others. So cool! Like Balthier from Final Fantasy!

[bury the year]

The alluvial fields were normally quiet at night. This was where the banks of the river flowing through Dubhe spilled apart, pouring their contents in a silty mess across the rocky plains. Small trees rose inefficiently from the sandy dirt, their gnarled branches grasping towards the sky in an act of desperation. Despite the enormous heat coming from the rest of the desert, at night the temperature dropped to become bearable, if not even a bit chilly. Under the proper circumstances, it would be quite nice out in Lazur.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those times.

CHAPTER 1: VS. ANTLION PRINCE

Akane caught up with Yohta right as they were about to exit the city. He noted with a bit of trepidation that she wasn’t wearing her armor. That struck Yohta as unusual - normally knights kept their gear on most of the time, as they could endure wearing heavier armor for longer time. ’All the damage from the last battle must’ve taken its toll,’ he thought idly.

"Bring me up to date on the situation."

”Direct as always,” he responded with a faint drawl of amusement. He poked his thumb in Milly’s direction. ”Her friend’s caught in an Antlion Prince’s trap. She didn’t say how long ago it happened, so-“

”I ran to the square right away!” Milly interrupted, taking Yohta aback. (He wasn’t accustomed to being interrupted.) At least her voice sounded a bit calmer. "Tokiwo’s keeping the little antlions at bay. I don’t know how long he can take it, though!”

”…right. Judging by what I know of the area, the Princes tend to spawn not too far from the west gates. It shouldn’t take us long to get there.” The rogue finished his statement and turned back towards his front, where the elaborate gates of Dubhe stood ahead. The lamps at each corner were brilliantly lit, signaling the sun had almost finished falling and that night was almost here. He grimaced. Night conditions tended to favor monsters over players. Thankfully the wind was calm, though. He dashed right through, following Milly’s trail.

Milly started to slow down and led Yohta to a short distance past the exit gates of Dubhe, over a dune hill. The rogue could see Finn and Tadashi cresting the hill from behind him and falling in line, the former making a wisecrack while the latter just nodded. That was four of seven members present, by his counts. All that were left were Haruka, Inali and Matthias, and he had no clue where they might be. Yohta just prayed this wasn’t the day people started ignoring the ping.

Finally, abruptly, he saw it. A massive antlion larva at the center of a funnel of loose sand, within which a cleric was caught waist-deep. Yohta took a second to survey the situation. She seemed to be putting up a good fight, with alternating treading sand and smacking the antlion on the head with her mace whenever it got too close. However, it was readily apparent that her stamina was rapidly decreasing, and her periodic cries of distress were becoming more and more desparate.

Off to one side, a [acronym="Ignore the long ears pl0x."]samurai[/acronym] had his hands full beating back a string of smaller antlions that were hell-bent on joining their father in the sand pit. He looked less ragged than the cleric did, but his position was precarious. One false move and he’d fall into the funnel as well.

As the rest of Osprey assembled behind Milly and Yohta, “thwok!” from behind him announced that Haruka had arrived, evidently right into a tree. With Inali and Matti in tact, too. He sighed inwardly, making a mental note to reprimand her for bodily throwing passengers. There was no time for that now, though.

”Haruka, Akane, you two go over and extract Yui. Everyone else, provide cover and keep the babies from getting too close. And Milly,” Yohta added, ”I suggest you stay back to recover your stamina. You look winded.”

She nodded in agreement. Yohta didn’t waste any time giving people their orders. This battle was going to be relatively simple, provided they could extract Yui as quickly as possible. However, he had the sinking feeling that not everything was as it seemed…

”Alright, go!” Osprey scattered, and their leader smiled before breathing in, readying himself for 「Razor’s Edge」. Confident that the agility boost would do him well, he launched himself bodily at the baby antlions near Tokiwo, knife crashing into the skull of the unlucky one that happened to be closest.

[spoiler=Where to Go (IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS INSIDE)]You’ve got your orders, so now take down your enemies. At the end of each of your posts, put 1-2 sentences of instructions summarizing your attacks, like this. Don’t just wipe them all out at once: it should take at least 1-2 rounds of posting to get everything stabilized. For example:

< Yohta dove at an antlion baby, almost fully killing it. >

NPC Units (feel free to control them)
Milly (female monk, ally, level 15)
Yui (female cleric, ally, level 20)
Tokiwo (male samurai, ally, level 18)
Antlion Prince (Earth-aligned, enemy, level 42) - An unusually high-leveled specimen for this area.
Baby Antlion (Earth-aligned, enemy, level ~14-18) - One will pop out of the ground when another is defeated to take its place. No more than 6 exist on the battlefield at any one time.[/spoiler]

[Aix]

As they approached their destination, Akane had already taken her sword out of the player inventory. This would be a tough fight without her armor, in an environment with unstable footing and dodging would prove difficult. However, Akane felt confident she could simply block all the hits of the lumbering Antlion. Nodding at Yohta's orders, she added some of her own as she advanced. "Haruka, quickly get to the edge of the pit, and use Chain Zephyr to reel the girl out. Make sure she's safe before coming to back me up. Matthias, be ready to apply healing once the girl gets within your range."
 
With that, she charged forwards and leaped up, her sword positioned on her back, activating the sword skill「Gullotine」. It was perfect for a unmoving enemy like this, especially one who dug themselves into a pit that would increase Akane's air time. The arc of her swing timed perfectly with her descent and smashed into the Antlion's head, knocking the creature down and back towards the center of the pit. The attack broke the creature's exoskeleton, but unfortunately didn't cut deeply enough on the high-level creature.
 
Kicking a foothold in the sand, Akane stepped into a stance with both hands on her sword, in position to do a powerful low horizontal swing, but she did not engage further. Her priority, for now, was the girl caught in the sand directly behind her. She stood there patiently, staring down on her enemy.

< Akane did a powerful attack on the Antlion Prince and positioned herself in front of the cleric girl >

[Mr. Hyde]

The cool night desert breeze swept across Finn's face.  It had been a while since he farmed these fields for EXP and small amounts of Gilders.  It really brought him back to the days of panic leveling during the first couple of weeks after Lockdown Day.  

 

The situation had become clear.  A lone cleric stood in a pit, trying to fend off what appeared to be a creature he had been reading about recently.  Though this was no Mother Antlion, it sure was close to the horrors portrayed in the book.  Vile snapping jaws erupting from cleverly crafted pits of sand.  Prey was caught off guard by fright when they realized gravity was their enemy.  To the side, a mob of smaller antlions was attacking a Samurai.  Wherever a prince was, a mob was sure to follow.  Finn knew the supply of mini-antlions would be never-ending.  

 

"Looks like we're in for some fun times!  But then again, it's always a fun time with Osprey around!"  Finn said pushing up his glasses.  "Strategy mode, ENGAGE!"  With a lame catchphrase he had tried to come up with on the fly, he brought up his HUD to get a scope of the battle.  He was sure to stay in the back and help his fellow guild members with constant dps and new plans.  Yohta went off to fend off the baby-antlions.  "Good..." he thought, "He can keep all those creatures at bay, killing them is pointless but if he manages to kill a few at a time, the respawn rate should be long enough to where they don't interfere with the rest of the party and the stragglers."  Akane however just jumped right into combat, but that was no surprise.  Finn knew Akane would and he accounted for that during his planning.  At least she was protecting the girl from the giant monster.  

 

"Alright, Matti, Inali and I are are going to stay back here!  Tadashi, you should help with ranged support against the prince over there!  Matti, get some heals on those other players, god knows they need it!"  Finn raised his staff in the air, he called forth the thunder spirits to cast [Lightning Chains].  Pointing it at the mob of larva, he shot forth lightning which binded all of the babies, slowing their movement, and slowly draining their health.  It should make it easier for Yohta and even Tokiwo to finish off the mob.  The problem was that another mob would soon spring forth, their attention should then be focused on the Prince during the larva respawn time.  

 

<Finn gave some further commands and chained the antlion mob with lightning>

[Ren✧]

Tadashi moved to get a better viewpoint of the situation. The desert, unfortunately, couldn't usually provide him with an ideal shooting position, seeing as much of it was just a vast expanse of sprawling sand. However, there was a nearby dune that would give him enough vantage to accurately rain down arrows on any and all targets. Tadashi knew that he could easily take out the mob of Baby Antlions with a couple of well placed arrows, but doing so would be moot. They would just respawn and Tadashi would just be wasting his supply of ammunition. No, it would be best if he focused his assault on the larger Prince Antlion. His thoughts were repeated by Finn who was dissecting the situation in his usual precise manner.  

 

Selecting one of his newly obtained arrows, one that was covered in the poison of a Giant Scorpion, he drew back on his bow and took aim. Through experience, Tadashi had learned that the Poisoned status effect wouldn't take effect if an Antlion's exoskeleton was intact. That left him with two options. Either aim for exposed areas, like the Prince's mouth and eyes, or wait for the shell to be cracked. The latter would be ideal, as it would be much easier to land a hit there than any the constantly shifting eyes and mouth of the monster. Fortunately, Akane, as usually leapt into action and tore a decent size whole in the insect's tough armor. Taking aim, the archer let an arrow fly. Unfortunately, the arrow missed the opening of exposed flesh and clattered against the monster's hard exoskeleton, barely touching the monster's HP bar.

 

"Damn." Tadashi muttered, drawing another arrow from his quiver. This arrow was one of his usuals, a simple silver arrow. He couldn't afford wasting all of his special arrows. Instead, he set off a few shots, causing the Prince Antlion to roar in frustration as the silver-tipped missiles crashed into him. "That's right ass-clown." Tadashi remarked, drawing pleasure from the monster's rage. "Say my name."

 

Briefly, turning his attention to the attack against the swarm of Baby Antlions. Noticing that one of the monsters had slipped under the samurai's guard, he quickly shot an arrow in that direction. It had been a rushed shot, so it didn't immediately kill the monster, but the flash of silver had caught the samurai's eye, drawing his attention to the monster that had been about to take a large bite out of his health.

 

<Tadashi tries to poison the Prince Antlion with a special arrow, but just barely misses>

<He continues to frustrate the Prince Antlion with a barrage of arrows and saves Tokiwo from taking a significant hit>