Chapter 16: Gray Joining
'Waking Up! Fallen Arc 2: Online Waits For Your Arrival Once More.' This interrupted Hakeem's dream, abruptly pulling him into an empty mind-scape, partially resembling his bedroom.
-Hakeem: "Oh… I think… just how… could I… love naught… too litt-..." Intelligible words, lining up to fall from Hakeem's mouth went into the silent void.
His rambling continued up until he was shaken awake by his conscious presence in the bustling city of Faerilm, and it's now-recognizable Ware Emporium.
-Leek: His eyes felt heavy, but did not force him to close them. "Hmmm. Jylinia isn't working now I guess." Having no reason to stay here Leek walked over to the front door, held it for an individual, and left without a word.
Aimless, he wandered about.
Taking notice he figured that sections of the city had alternating types of architecture.
These revolved around the guilds placed throughout the capital, all having a sort of pull/influence on all surrounding commercial buildings.
-Leek: "Wonder if different teams designed each guild? Even the way the stones are placed is unique." Something he always found valuable was sightseeing.
With the initial implementation of Full Stream Headsets and their advertised features, Leek saw the future in visual technology.
The brain would become the direct vessel for graphics rendering, surpassing anything the eye could interpret from a monitor.
Bringing the previously bland to beyond vivid.
Properly articulating himself, the sense of groggy having been wiped clean. Leek decided to take his business to the Hunters Guild.
His dislike for the type of mission given by the Adventurers Guild was due to just that; them being adventure-based. A need to travel extensively.
With the insubstantial abilities he possessed now it would be futile to explore anything, the quick-time scenarios would without a doubt be suited for the end-game players.
With this thought he brought back up the idea of guilds and their utility.
In the game, there was a distinction between the Guilds. Typically you would come about one/three central powerhouses that control all players, and the distribution of their needs.
FAO had an alternate take on this. The emergence of guilds did so under the necessity to protect the members, and their innate craft, from predation of another party.
Under the need for separation, to allow for checks and balances, no single guild holds a broad brush from their initial intended purpose. Merchants Guild does not hold domain over traders, and vice versa.
He reached the face of the Guild. People consistently flowed to and from the doors. The allowed amount of visible players had adjusted, forcibly reducing the amount, to make up for the sheer number.
-Leek: "Yeah, no. I'm good." Talking to the influx of people, all of whom he had no intention of meeting, Leek went into his settings to drop the permitted visible players down to their lowest. "Got me messed up."
By now there was a more comfortable movement of people through the Guild Hall. It was clear that a high demand was in call for the hunter quests.
Two bulletin boards were stationed on either side of the large doors. Each had its collection of hunters looking to accept a quest and progress themselves.
Another two were placed on the left and right side of the building respectively, coming from a more backstreet alley, connecting to the main road after passing the guild; people were less pushy to reach these.
-Leek: "I don't see any quests actually on them… gotta go in then." Both shoulders fell at the needless requirement. To accept, and even view a single mission from an unaffiliated guild you would need to apply for any permit or membership.
Falling into possession of membership was no effort, specifically when in direct comparison to the ordeal that occurred at the Adventurers Guild. He walked to the counter, requested for instatement to the guild, and filled out a few forms.
The quest boards on the inside had less of a crowd. He went over to the furthest one, away from the direct view of people entering.
Each listing had to do with the elimination of some mob. They varied in value with how many needed to be eliminated, the quality of monster, their rarity, and the strength/effort needed to complete the quest.
Luckily these quests did not need a person to travel far beyond the bounds and walls encasing the capital Faerilm.
Outside the bustling city was the vast open plain, and the dense winding forest that brings you to the foot of Faerilm.
The flowing grass was segmented as that of a terraced rice field, with quarters of a mile per step.
This was as Leek experienced when first setting eyes on the city and its surroundings, leaving the dense canopy into the depths of sunlight.
*Ding* went the system's chime. 'You Have Two New Friend Requests, From: Dark2raySpec, and, Light8lack_3232'
-Leek: He was surprised to see the names that were attempting to friend him. "Took the punk long enough!" No hesitation halted him from immediately accepting the two invitations.
~Light8lack_3232: "This is my alt. Should be low enough to play wit you. Gimme little. Need to turn in this quest."
Right after accepting the invites, Leek had been given this message directly from Gray, the friend he waited for so long to join him. It was a request for more time.
No doubt in his mind kept him from putting the ask for another extension past the actions of Gray.
Anticipating their reunion Leek went forward with undertaking a quest to buy himself more time for Gray's arrival.
'Eliminate As Many Invasive Cane Toad Frogs From The Fields Surrounding Faerilms Base. | Kill 0<, Bring Their Legs For Confirmation|'< p>
Another mindless slaying quest was his choice. He did not wish to interact with anything more "lore"-centric as progression could require his character to be of a higher level to properly proceed.
From over his shoulder, Leek felt the attention of someone peering at him. He did speak without anyone present to hear it in conversation, but not so bold enough to cause someone's eye to be drawn to him.
Thoughtless paranoia, he brushed the feeling off as such. Though effort had to be put forth for him to pretend to believe that as truth.
Having undertaken the toad elimination quest he pulled out a piece of paper. It was the physical representation of the wolf mission he had already finished.
Leek presented it to the board in exchange for his compensation.
*Ding* It went again. '[+8 Half-Bids] | [+16 Hunter EXP] | [+21 Adventurer EXP] | [+Quest Conversion: Exploration]'
-Leek: "Quest conversion?" The paper in his hand had not become intangible, the words explaining its reason for existence rather had shifted around before his eyes.
'Something Is Occurring With The Population Of Wolves, For Whatever Reason They Have Gotten Stronger And Denser In Number |Explore The Wolves Den Above Faerilm|'
-Leek: The intrigue that came from an accidentally triggered quest expansion was not enough to cause him to undertake it without thought. "I'll do this later. Someone else might be on it already anyway."
He then looked in his inventory, taking a proper look at what it was exactly he had access to. During this information gathering he nearly dropped the clothing and shoes he was currently equipped with.
They were of such poor quality he'd mistaken them for that of random loot, having been picked up in passing from a new player; upgrading from the low-quality rags they're given at game-start.
So, before he could set out to test his new toys Leek went to another shop, wanting to upgrade his outfit to properly match how he viewed himself.
""
-???: "So sir, I employ you justly. Provide me the cloth which breeds you much warmth. So I may forgo my ignorance!"
-Leek: ..."Don't think I'm comfortable with that, you're weird. But lemme see what you do have." This response came after much flurry of attempted persuasion.
A hole-in-the-wall shop, when compared to that of the Ware Emporium, that had a confining feeling was Leek's current location.
Window shopping pulled for Leek to take a step in and look. With little time to himself, he was ambushed by the store manager and one of his employees.
They both gave a ravenous lust for the clothing on his back.
-???: "O-Of course! Diyeana, retrieve the sir our catalog at ONCE!" The same individual who spoke before yelled to the employee, throwing his hands carelessly to the back of house.
After brief conversation, Leek came to the understanding that the material his clothing was made from was their desire.
A mostly extinct cloth that was once easily accessible to the people of this country. Through war, its commercial manufacture had stopped completely as profits were incapable of being made at its production.
It was something few of even noble birth would have the standing to hold onto for long.
-Diyeana: Quickly paced, the sent-off worker reemerged with a thin piece of paper, handing it humbly to the mysterious man in broadcloth. "This includes any restricted supply we would, and will, have in time to come."
The entire interaction was overwhelming. It came and went, yet had a strong tone of lasting forever.
Leek managed to leave the establishment with a higher quality outfit but did reluctantly, as the strong push for them left a bad taste in his mouth, leaving behind his old pairs.
-Leek: "Yeah, ain't going back there unless I got too…" With his head falling, and in his now downtrodden state, Leek set off to test his new weapons and strategy.
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Status Page: Leek (15)
[ Skill Points: 3 ]
HP 16 (+2)
SPD 8 (+2)
VIT 9 (+0)
TEQ 3 (+3)
EVN 5 (+4)
SSK 2
[ LUCK: 7 ](+5)
Inventory: (1)Elixir: Vitality/Basic, Coin Pouch: 97, (6)Angora Tails: Rotten, (7)Angora Tails: Fresh, (1)Drawstring Bag: Basic, (9)Shuriken, (16)Kunai, Gauntlet Pair(Pristine), (6)Potion: Speed/Normal, (3)Elixir: Health/Normal, (3)Elixir: Mana/Higher, (4)Potion: Health/Higher, (6)Scroll: Transcribe/Superior, Glaive(Pristine)
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+Inventory: Clothing (Pristine), Shoes (Pristine)
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Coldening Feeling: When Active The User Gains Increased Perception To Nearby Characters/Mobs | Paranoia (1)Stacks With Each Character/Mob In Vicinity While Active, Increasing Hyper-Fixation. Decreases Vitality With Every (2)Stack.
Cut Throat: Increases The Chances To Land Critical Hits For As Long As Bloodlust (3)Stacks Have Been Placed On The User | Reduces Accuracy And Evasion, The User Becomes Frenzied.
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