22. This Is Gonna Be A Long Day.

'Rush!' With Lance's heightened reflexes, and his skills, he didn't have much to fear from these guys. He swiftly moved behind the old man and swung his sword at his neck.

*Trling!*

'Weak Point!'

The old man's head fell to the ground and rolled a few feet away. The half dozen or so men that were backing the old man up, all started stumbling back and screaming. "He's a monster!" The ones still standing all ran in different directions, while the ones that fell were scrambling to their feet to run away.

*Trling! *

'Acquired 50 EXP!'

Lance almost fell to the ground at the sight. He never killed a human before, and though the old man didn't look like a regular human to him, he was still a man. the shock shook Lance but he quickly regained himself. Looking down at the man Lance steeled himself. He knew if he let the man live, others may have died.

'He has some pretty good items, you should take them.' Vixen already looked in the old man's inventory. He had some rations as well as money and potions.

Trling

____________________

Janusi

4 Field Rations

8 Medium Health Potions

450 UAC

Long Sword

Leather Gauntlets

Leather Pants

Leather Boots

Leather Chest

____________________

Lance didn't need the armor or weapon, so he picked up everything but. He didn't feel all that comfortable taking from a dead man, but right now he wasn't in a situation where he could complain

"You know, that could be considered grave robbing." A soft feminine voice came from behind Lance. He turned around to see a young woman standing over him.

The woman standing behind him was around a meter and a half tall, shorter than Lance. She had bluish-green hair that came down to her jawline. Her skin was pale white, almost like Lance's, so she had to be human at the very least, he thought. Her eyes were a shade of red. Her most distinct feature that Lance saw, was her ears. They had a point to them and stood out to him.

"An elf?" Lance spoke without thinking.

The young woman got a sour face when she heard his remark. "I don't know what this elf thing is, but if you're making fun of my height, I'm gonna kick your ass." She stomped the ground and let out a huff.

'Lance, you're such an idiot.' Vixen dropped her head and shook it.

"No no, Sorry. I wasn't meaning your height." Lance stood up and that's when he realized, he had a full head on the girl. "Your ears, they reminded me of something."

The young girl grabbed her ears and hid them, "Is there something wrong with my ears?" She looked down and got a sad expression on her face while rubbing her ears, "Do you not like my ears or something?"

"No no, that's not. Sigh." Lance hung his head low and then looked back at the girl. "I'm Rene." He held his hand out to shake her hand.

Still hiding one ear, she reached out and took his hand, "I'm Sharna."

As their hands touched, an information window popped up and Lance was able to see Sharna's Status.

Trling

____________________

Character: Sharna

Level: 4

Rank: F

Race: Voltarin

Class: Squire (4/20)

Sub-Class: Scholar (5/10)

Sex: Female

Equipment:

- Short sword (14 - 17 Attack)

- Leather Gauntlets (8 AR)

- Leather Boots (8 AR)

- Leather Pants (12 AR)

- Leather Chest (20 AR)

Health Points: 138

Energy Points: 145

Stamina Points: 99

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 11

Intelligence: 23

Charisma: 8

Mystic: 16

Luck: 5

Attack: 7-8

Armour Rating: 1 (48)

Skills:

- Fire Bolt (5/5) Cost: 3 Energy

- Launches a fireball at your target. Damaged based on Attack. True Damage skill. May burn target.

- Shock (4/5) Cost: 6 Energy

- Sends a shock to your target. 75% of attack damage. True damage skill. May paralyze your opponent.

- Rush (1/5) Cost: 5 Stamina

- Rushes towards the target dealing 60% melee damage instantly. True damage skill.

- Serene Grace (1/1)

- Gain natural healing. Your health, Energy, and Stamina heal over time.

____________________

'She's not very powerful, but she has magic and a new sub-class.' Lance inspected her and was kind of surprised. Had the old man chosen to attack her instead, she wouldn't have stood a chance. But some of her skills and the sub-class intrigued him.

Sharna shook his hand with a gentle touch, befitting her stature. "It's nice to meet you, Rene. But me being friendly doesn't mean I approve of you robbing people." She let go of his hand and gave him a sour look.

"It's not exactly robbing. He attacked first, and his belonging would go to waste if I didn't take them." He watched to see her reaction. When her face didn't change he continued talking. "Either way, what is it you want?"

Sharna dropped the sour look and sighed. "Whatever. I saw the fight and you look strong. I wouldn't be able to survive on my own, so I was hoping we could form a party."

Lance thought for a minute. He could probably make it back on his own. As long as no boss monsters appeared, or other players tried to gang up on him, he should be fine. He has a decent stash of healing potions. And if he wanted to, he could just rush back and make it before the next morning. He was trying to find the pros of having Sharna come along.

"Look, I know I'm weak okay!" She's looking down at the ground, her face bright red. "I know I won't make it on my own. But I'm also not gonna beg. But would you please help me?!" she wouldn't look up to meet his eyes. Deep down she figured he wouldn't help, but she wanted to at least try.

"Sigh" Lance scratched the back of his head while shaking it. "Fine, but you gotta keep up, Okay?! And I can't promise to keep you alive."

*Trling*

____________________

Hidden Quest Unlocked!

Protect Sharna!

Description: Take Sharna with you and arrive back in the city together.

Reward:

Experience: 1500

UAC: 500

Skill Unlock:

Hidden Skill

____________________

'Hidden skill? That's new!' Lance was rather happy that he accepted now.

She looked up to see Lance's face, "Really?!" She had a bright smile and looked like she was gonna cry at any minute.

"Yes, Just, keep up!" Lance turned and started to head into the forest. He already lost enough time and didn't want to fall prey to the groups still fighting.

Sharna watched as he quickly went into the forest, "Hey, what? Wait up!" She was still coming to the realization he accepted and was gonna be left behind. "Wait up I said!" She starts bolting towards where he went.

*

The couple walked for several hours, and the Suns were still high in the sky. It must be mid-afternoon. Lance was hurrying to finish this quest and wasn't about to stop for anything.

Sharna was following behind him, huffing and puffing, trying to catch her breath. "Can't we stop for a few minutes? We got lots of time." Her walking speed had slowed down drastically, she used a lot of stamina trying to keep up with Lance.

Vixen was floating to the side and let out a puff, 'I don't get why you brought her along! She's dragging us down.'

Lance let out a sigh, but he didn't stop. "It's over 50 kilometers to the city, we only covered maybe 5. We don't have time for a break."

"But, I can't breathe" Sharna stopped and tried to recover. "Just a few seconds, please?" She looked at Lance with pleading eyes.

Lance stopped and turned around. He shot Sharna a nasty glare. "There are beasts all around us, if you're tired now, do you really wanna be a sitting duck?"

"A few minutes should be ok. There's no wildlife around us right now." She still hasn't moved and continued arguing.

*SNAP!*

Several meters away in the deeper part of the woods, a twig broke.

"Hooowwwwll"

Lance looked in the direction the howling came from and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Without turning to face Sharna, "Do you still believe that?" He drew his swords and watched the forest, preparing for this imminent fight.