Please Help With My Map! (Part 1) [Easy Quest]

Stockbon. Asrafil had become comfortable with the familiarity of the scenery. A large city, one that posed an unremarkable resemblance to much of the world that the one behind the Faerin mask was accustomed to. That said, the structure here were far less impressive than that of Manhattan's nightlife. He stood at the entrance of the building, browsing the full-dive preferences within the optional menu while awaiting the other members of his party. They were tasked with using a discovery function, something akin to a self-orienteering digital map that filled itself in for the user upon comprehensive exploration of the establishment in question.

Asrafil's eyes dazzled and danced through the fixture of the impressive system programming, lighting up more at the sight of the city circle. It was astounding, truly. Well, the architecture was anyways. It's inhabitants, however, were less than hospitable. Asrafil could no longer count on his fingers alone the amount of dirty looks and disgusted expressions he received from the common human populace. There was this level of satisfaction that grew on Asrafil's conscience, and subsequently his ego. He was outside the norm of the Faerin; he served no lord and was master of his own fate. Many of the Faerin of the world work in a lower-class economic system with rare a chance to escape or attain land to escape such a pitiful destiny.

Despite that depressing existence, Asrafil took delight in his unadulterated freedom. He grinned, and his eyes only shone a brighter indigo. A rare hue that put the royal purple's of the noble's cloaks to shame, truly. Yet his patience wore thin.

"I can't be the only one whose always early." He muttered to himself, aimlessly mostly, but with a tinge of venom in his words.

He exited his brief perusal of the several optical dive menus and returned to marveling at the gorgeous not-so-New York. Asrafil berated himself, already taking everything so seriously. If he was here to escape the droll of the real world, why complain about the technological prestige or lack thereof. After all, its the mystery of an unknown world awaiting that made Asrafil take such an interest in the program after all. With a click of the tongue, he pulled the soft, black fabric, adorning a gold lining, beneath his bottom and seated himself with his knees locked and heels frayed out next to the wall of the warehouse.

@Ortix Farlin @Sin Arbalest

 

Ortix was in the center of town scouring shops and scrutinizing the mannerisms of the locals which surrounded him. While most appeared to be common folk, every once in awhile he would spot a carriage containing a man or woman who, at the very least, could be considered regal Ortix's eyes then widened, a massive caravan full of other Felis passed by so closely the tire of the first wagon caressed his foot. He quickly stepped back and peered in amazement as the various merchants performed grandiose gestures while advertising themselves and their caravan.

"I wouldn't mind a life like that." Ortix muttered to himself in apparent amazement before continuing his roundabout and scenic route towards his quest objective. He had almost too much time to kill.

After spending nearly the entire day browsing shops and observing Stockbon's customs and economics, the time for his first quest dawned. To maintain his illusion of class and not keep anyone waiting, Ortix decided to show up a few minutes early. On the way, he practiced maneuvering in this foreign world. It was a heavy change of scenery from Ortix's normal lake-view apartment in the real world. Immediately as he arrived he noticed the exemption of life around the objective except in one particular spot near the wall of the warehouse. He spotted a Faerin whose observable lack of seriousness was only matched by his lack of height.

"Pfft, I could hardly even imagine being in a team with that munchkin. Just thinking about it seems..." Ortix suddenly grew quiet as he realized the likelihood of the Faerin being there for the same reason as his. At an attempt to deny fate, he waited a few minutes. In this time he snuck up on an unsuspecting rat in order to test his mettle in both behaving in a rogue-like manner and skinning and leatherworking. The rat's pelt came off quite nicely, though that was hardly what Ortix was worried about. He noticed a few concerned looks in his direction as he held a bloodied rat skin on the side of the road. Ortix quickly wiped the curiosity from his face and blushed, resuming his stern expression. He then sighed and made way across the street to assume a position by the main entrance of the warehouse while simultaneously attempting to confirm or deny his suspicions of the possible teammate.

@Asrafil Ryva @Sin Arbalest

 

@Asrafil Ryva @Ortix Farlin

Sin was still getting used to the new mechanics of the game as he scanned the area he was in. Stokbon was a sprawling city and it amazed him that it nearly mirrored Boston in size. Of course, he wasn't just there to sightsee. He had work to do.

"Where is it...?" He murmured as he looked around. Of course, he was never good at directions, which was why he got on early so he could find the darn place. He was pretty sure it had taken nearly an hour and he still found nothing.

With a sigh, he continued to look around until he spotted what looked to be a crumbling building to his right. "Is that it?" He walked over to the building to take stock of the situation. Hopefully this was the right one.

But wait, couldn't he check if it's the right one? With a grunt, he pulled up the interface and hit the quest button to see where the location was at. He compared the map to his own location and smiled. Good, he was here. Closing his interface, he decided to talk to his fellow quest goers to see what they were like. Not like his little sister, surely.

 

It only took ages for the aforementioned adventurers to spawn into Asrafil's view. He slid off and against the wall, eyeing one of which who seemed to either be suspicious of Asrafil's very existence or was just a poor people watcher. The other was idly making his way there, but regardless, they had finally come together and not a moment too soon. Hopping into position, Asrafil looked up at the Felis, then the human. First peering awkwardly and realizing that for a large portion of the population this would be the outocome. A strained neck and peering to keep the blinding sun out of his eyes. Deciding to make things easier, he skipped a few feet further to create some distance between the gatherers, and make getting a glance of them easier overall.

With a wave, introductions began. "Hi hi! The name is Asrafil Ryva, but that's just Asrafil to you all... as I'm sure you can tell." He blinked, rubbing a thumb over his chin momentarily to discern the next thing he should say. Maybe he should just wait for them to introduce themselves—

"So, you guys were contacted by the merchant too right?"

Harry's habitual inability to let other's get a word in seemed to follow Asrafil's line of thinking as well. He plopped his gloved hands into the thin fabric pockets of his cardigan, flashing a bright grin at the fellow adventurers.

"Guess that means we're en route into the warehouse! Let's get going— Oh, oh, oh, wait, what're your names? Formalities, of course."

He already got completely off-track, energy overflowing to jump right into action. His fear of what may lurk inside the decrepit building was ultimately non-existent. Confidence was an accurate trait to accommodate Asrafil, but he wasn't all so reckless. He had spent several minutes getting an idea of what may or may not be stationed inside the warehouse with the extra time he had unfurled when everyone else was taking their sweet time arriving to the rendezvous point. Mostly rodents of the larger variety and something at least a foot bigger than Asrafil himself.

That might have been the greatest of his worries, if any at all.

@Ortix Farlin @Sin Arbalest

 

"My names Ortix. Ortix Farlin. Now let's get a move on!" With a gung-ho attitude and smile from ear to ear, Ortix marched up the stairs. SLAM! He kicked the door clean open as a direct challenge to everyone or everything inside. It suddenly became overly apparent just how long ago this place was abandoned. First, a thick cloud of dust wafted outside the main entrance temporarily blinding and choking Ortix. He quickly slid out of the way of the door spitting and coughing dust out the whole time. After the dust cleared out, he noticed a foul stench. The air from within the warehouse smelt of shit, piss, and corpses. Ortix pulled his shirt up over his nose slowly returned to the doorway. He squinted his eyes to keep the remaining dust out, and wandered a couple of steps in. About 10 feet in front of him laid the single biggest mound of trash and shredded cloth he had ever seen. To his left was a door and opposite him on the other side of the room was a stair case. Ortix was quickly mapping down what he saw when he suddenly felt the the presence of many eyes. He glanced up only meet the gaze of three rats each around the size of your average dog and at least a hundred normal sized ones scattering. The three slowly waddled out of the glaring directly at Ortix while a rather obese rat sat at the top of the mound squeaking happily. Ortix's eyes widened and he slowly stepped backwards out of the building.

"Guys, were have a major problem unless one of you happens to be a beast tamer."

@Asrafil Ryva @Sin Arbalest

 

@Asrafil Ryva @Ortix Farlin

In his opinion, the Faerin talked too much and too fast. He could barely make out his excited words and it annoyed him to no end. He was waaay too much like his sister. At least the other guy seemed rather chill about the whole thing- And then he kicked down the door. ...Or not. Well then.

"Sin. That's all you need to know," he said, finally answering Asrafil's question. His brows furrowed as Ortix took a step back, looking uneasy. "Why? What's in there?" He moved forward and peered into the interior, only to gag at the smell. "Ugh..." He covered his nose with a hand and took a look around while he was still adjusting to the dim lighting.

Then he saw the giant rats. Lovely. "Sadly, I'm no beast tamer, but I think killing the giant rats would at least be able to get rid of the smaller ones," he said, still holding a hand over his nose It didn't do much to block out the smell, but he wasn't going to lift his tunic up just to block it.

He turned to Asrafil. "What about you? Maybe whatever skills you have can help." He stepped out of the warehouse to allow the Faerin player some space in case he needed to do anything. Hopefully he did have some sort of skill that would be useful against the rats.

 

Asrafil blinked at the two taller individuals, raising a brow at their random perpetration of disgust. Ortix seemed rushed to get to the point, fine and all. Little strange he was so tempted to get inside and finish up whatever it is they had to do here, it wasn't like the sun was going down that fast. Sin, however, definitely snapped a nerve with Asrafil. The Faerin squinted his eyes, that energetic grin leaning more towards nefarious than jubilant. Though he tried his best to keep that expression from spreading much farther, shutting his eyes and placing both hands on his hips, as if to muster a pride the other two lacked.

This pride was promptly shattered as he walked over to the door ajar, putting a hand the edge and pushing it slightly open. The smell was mortifying, surely, but what got Asrafil was the sight. His eyes of luminary indigo locked onto the rat pile that circumnavigated what seemed like the entire floor. He felt his skin physically crawl, blinking at the pile, and promptly shutting the door as to refute the odor from having a chance to escape.

It just dawned on him what Sin had asked, and in the end even he had no clue what to do about them. He took a moment, thinking a bit before opening the door a crack and peering inside. It was dark, but the sunlight easing its way through the crack made the rats just visible. All he needed was a few moments...

"Blue," he said confidently. "The rats in there all have blue names. If you concentrate you can get a general idea of their stats from here. Blue means they're non-threatening or likely benign unless angered. They aren't anything we can't handle in a small mob to say the least..."

Asrafil closed the door again for a moment, putting his back to it and staring up at Ortix and Sin. His face was calculating and determined, but a sort of determination you don't go out of your way to fuck with.

"Except one. There's a larger one in there, not that I think size determines strength, but," he paused, shutting his eyes and thinking a moment longer. "It might be a lost familiar, or an augmented species of vermin. At the very least, I don't think it's exactly like the rest. And who knows how many are on other floors..." Asrafil was thinking again. Always constantly thinking.

"Okay, here's the deal. I can't get close to those things and do much in the way of fighting. I'dunno if ya'll have noticed, I don't carry any weapons on me and I don't know a damn thing about martial arts. Can I count on you guys to dispatch of the smaller rats while I keep the larger... largest one busy?"

Asrafil put his hands back on his hips, blinking vacantly at Ortix and Sin once more. The playful demeanor he had before showed no signs of returning at the moment.

Til he grinned, awaiting their responses. Determination was swelling, even if this quest was more of a domestic chore rather than an exciting adventure off somewhere.

@Sin Arbalest @Ortix Farlin

 

"Hmhp, thanks for the information. Blues huh? I haven't really gotten around to using that feature yet. Anyhow Let's cook these chumps! C'mon Sin!" Ortix walked forward until he reached the door way again and then ventured a couple of steps forward. The smaller sized rats darted away from where ever his foot was landing next but didn't leave viewing range. Putting this feature he had just learned about to the test, Ortix placed his middle finger to his temple and eyed some of the smaller rats.

"Gray, gray, gray, gray, gray... All these little guys are 'Insignificant' I guess" He continued to read names for a few more steps, then suddenly halted. Now he could make out the largest rat in detail.

"Oh shit, this is my first time seeing that color... Orange, huh? Welp, good luck Asrafil we'll help out when we're done on our side, so for now try not to get eaten! It says here that this one is 'Threatening'."

The three larger rats seemed to take Ortix's loud remarks and gaze towards what appeared to be their leader, a rat king of sorts, as a threat. Their eyes now locked onto Ortix, they began waddling his way.

"Alright, i'm ready to rumble!" He said, drawing his spear.
@Asrafil Ryva @Sin Arbalest

 

@Asrafil Ryva @Ortix Farlin

Sin rolled his eyes as Ortix eagerly jumped at the chance to fight off some rats. But what Asrafil said was a good plan, the only plan they had. He might as well go and eliminate some of the vermin, should be an easy task. He pulled out his chakram and went through the door, his face grim and determined.

Honestly, he hadn't done much exploring outside of Stokbon, due to him getting lost all the time. So this would be his first fight and his first time using the system to fight. The first thing he did was concentrate on the smaller rats to see how strong they were. Only blues and grays, nothing too important. When he concentrated on the largest rat, however, he saw that the name was indeed orange. He pursed his lips for a moment as he twirled his chakram.

"Right, let's do this," Sin said as he stopped twirling his chakram and eyed the three rats moving towards them. It didn't look like they were charging, which gave him enough time to analyze. The three larger ones were stronger than the little rats that they also had to deal with, but it should be fine as long as the Rat King was kept busy.

Without warning, He thrust his hand out and began to chant. The shadows that were inside the building began to warp as he used his malefimancy to slow down the giant rats. Sadly, he hadn't learned how to attack with his magic yet, but he'll figure it out eventually. The young man continued to chant as he gripped his chakram tighter.

 

Asrafil wasted no time using the opening his mates had made for him to slip in and blink over to a nearby table off in the west wing of the room. He blinked roughly three or four meters off, landing on the table top out of the way. The only evidence that Asrafil was even behind Ortix or Sin was a small purple light that flashed briefly. Regardless, the small Faerin made his way over and across the way without having to attract any immediate aggression. His first instinct was to unleash a spell on the Rat King and start pulling its attention, however that wasn't what he actually did. A small alarm in his head rang, remembering the actual objective of the quest.

He blinked, hesitating briefly before pulling his hand in front of his face and opening the user interface, pressing a few buttons in a rapid fashion to open the MAP PAINTER function. He activated it, revealing a large portion of the area around Asrafil on a small topographical view in 3D. With a satisfied nod, he closed his palm to shut off the interface, then flipped his hand out towards the rat king and enclosed his digits in the shape of what seemed to be a finger gun. He shut an eye, taking an aim down imaginary iron sights, sticking his tongue out in a concentrated fashion.

"Aaaaand...." Asrafil muttered to himself, keeping a tight aim on the large rat. It wasn't even moving yet, like it had some kind of other objective. It became clear once Asrafil kept a close enough eye on it that the rat itself was more than just a rat. This became clear because Asrafil noticed that rats don't usually have four arms, nor four eyes. Also those fangs could be equivocated to a shark's. The small Faerin's skin crawled all over, feeling an awkward mix of disgust and fear. Regardless, he resumed his determined position, muttering a few words with shut eyes. Moments later, his eyes opened glowing brightly as he shouted some foreign words. In the same instant, a large beam of purple fired off right at the thing, knocking the rat on its backside but not doing very much in the way of denting it.

"Well so much for trying to knock it out in one go."

@Ortix Farlin @Sin Arbalest

 

"Heh, stupid rats! Don't they know cat's are their natural predators!?" Ortix charged forward at the rightmost rat feverishly. While in hot pursuit, he brought his spear up over his right shoulder. Right when he got close, he side-stepped right and swung the spear like a golf club. His lack of skill and inadequacy with a spear. Nevertheless, the flat of the spear pounded the rat on the side of his head dazing it and damaging it's eye.

"Half-health after one swing? Now wonder these guys are only blue!"

Realizing he was in the center of a pool of rats, Ortix decided to take a rain-check. He turned around surprised to only find one of his teammates, Sin. Just then, a purple column of light struck the rat-king, knocking him on his back. The source? It was none other than the Faerin Ortix was looking for. Asrafil was standing with his hands shaped like a gun behind a table.

"So that's where you were! Great shot!"

@Asrafil Ryva @Sin Arbalest

 

@Asrafil Ryva @Ortix Farlin

Sin grunted as he harnessed his magic to try and fight off the rat horde. Once he felt like he had done enough damage, he charged into the thick of it while swinging his chakram. Unlike Ortix's spear, his weapon only did about a quarter damage to the rats, not half. But at least he knew that they were significantly weak compared to everything else.

"Tch." He kept hacking at one rat until its mutilated body fell to the ground. He waited for a moment to see if it would disappear and he could claim some gold or something. Nothing happened. Why isn't it disappearing? he thought to himself, but didn't dwell on it when another rat tackled him from behind, screeching. "Get off," he hissed as he shook himself to get the rat off. He managed to do so and attacked at it before being swarmed by three more.

"Do they just automatically spawn or something? Is there a spawn point we need to destroy?" he wondered out loud as he swiped his chakram against the rats. They were slowly getting through the rat horde and he was glad for that. He was momentarily distracted by a purple light that struck the Rat King. That moment of hesitation had him scrambling to shake off rats as they leaped at him. "Ugh..."

He growled and began to chant once more, causing the shadows to shift and slow down the other rats in the area, tendrils of shadow licking at their paws. While that was going on, he whirled around and shook himself free of the rats clinging onto him before attacking again.