Quest - Strange Exhibition

Mizuki swished her tail as she waited for the two others to arrive. The Harvest Festival was in preparation in the world of Terrasphere, although around here they apparently called it the Dark Harvest Festival instead. Not entirely surprising, since on Earth it also seemed to often be associated with darker things, if only to add to the ambience. Here in a world where monsters and magic actually existed there was even more reason to pay attention to the more sinister and occult aspects of the festival. It wasn't too strange to imagine where all that occult business had come from either: the harvest festival originally was to celebrate the harvest (naturally), but it just so happened that the successful harvest occurred at around the same time that the summer, the warmest and brightest of the seasons, quickly was replaced by the dreary autumn, where the days were cold and short, and the trees lost their leafs to reveal long twisted brown and black fingers, swaying in the winds as if trying to grab something while those same fallen leafs painted everything an unusual combination of red and orange where usually you would see green and brown.

This occult business was directly linked to Mizuki's business this afternoon. People loved that kind of thing as long as it wasn't actually harmful, and it looked like someone was willing to give good reward for anyone who could help capture a strange beast that could be put up on display as part of the mystical and extravagant festival. Mizuki, being knew to this world, wasn't entirely familiar with this Strange Exhibition or Earnesto Munster, but he was willing to reward the effort and it was a quest even someone of lower level like herself could accomplish, since the mission was only to find a strange enough monster, not to drag in an entire dragon (and most likely a dragon would be disqualified since while it was definitely a rare and impressive sight it wasn't exactly... strange. Just very, very strong and dangerous).

However while Mizuki wouldn't have minded trying this alone it seemed like mister Munster deemed this kind of task better done by a group, a decision Mizuki couldn't exactly fault him for. So now she was standing near one of the exits of the city of Stokbon, waiting for the other two who would be accompanying her on this task. Beyond there were the open fields of Brisshal, where they'd have to somehow find a strange enough creature to be worth putting on display on such a grand faire as that of the Dark Harvest Festival. Mizuki wasn't actually completely sure where they were supposed to catch their target and what would count as acceptable, but she was putting her hopes in the idea that with her Hunter mastery she could find some unusual tracks and those would be enough to lead her and the others to some creature that would fit the criteria.

Until the other two arrived, however, Mizuki didn't have much to do but look around, seeing the hustle and bustle as people entered and left Stokbon. It looked like a lot of people were busy with the upcoming festival, which made one wonder whether they would be able to provide anything impressive enough to actually have an effect on these masses. Or maybe they would cheer as long as they got to see anything even remotely interesting and all the enthusiasm actually made it easier to find something good enough. Mizuki would try her best, but she wasn't one to turn down a good enough when she knew that she wasn't exactly top tier material. She may have the Hunter mastery but she was still a newcomer to this world, and still wasn't very experienced.

Placing her index finger and middle finger against her temple Mizuki activated her tracking mode, her eyes glowing in their respective gold and blue while she looked around. Maybe she could already find something for them to hunt in advance... She was still relatively close to the city gates since she was waiting for the others, so there weren't a lot of tracks. Those tracks that she did see belonged to the usual creatures, such as boars and deer and other rather mundane critters that belonged in the relative safe area of Brisshal. Finding something really unusual would take some doing, and Mizuki had to suppress a sigh as she thought of how long it might genuinely take.

Her partners today would be one @Aalam Abungu , a human of which she knew very little, and one @Aselia , who was about as much of a stranger as Aalam. They were both humans, which hopefully would mean that neither of them would question her behaviour as a Felis too much. One might be inclined to think that it was those similar to you that would not question your actions, but Mizuki was pretty sure that most humans would leave the behaviour of a Felis alone, assuming it to just be a trait, while if another Felis saw her behaving oddly they might remark on it or even question her, since they had a better idea of whether her behaviour suited her race or not. Then again, that was more a reasoning for with NPCs... Players could find your behaviour strange no matter what race you happened to be.

Swishing her tail a bit more energetically Mizuki folded her arms, looking back towards the gate. She was pretty sure they were supposed to meet up here, but maybe she had arrived a bit too early since she didn't have much else to do. In real life she had already done all her work, and she had found that ever since she started living as Mizuki in Terrasphere she had more motivation to finish all her work and make sure everything was orderly, so she would have more defined free time in which she could enjoy the game and the opportunity to see life from another direction. Before Terrasphere she had already been working hard, but now she had another reason to make sure her work was finished. If she knew that having a silly but harmless activity like games would help you unwind like this she'd have begun much earlier in her life with it.

 

Aalam was up in a tree sitting on one of the tallest branches just above the tree line leaning back against its truck staring out at the horizon in harmony it was one of the few sights the brought him unfiltered relaxation. The clouds were painting a beautiful scene across the blue of the sky in the distance birds chirped in the canopy below him. It might have seemed to be something unimportant but consider that a person could get almost a similar view in the real world, but to him it was bliss. Terra was a break from the responsibilities it was beautiful however as peaceful as this was there was something, and someplace he needed to be, and it was not enjoying a clear sky. Putting away his longbow and strapping on his gloves it was going to be a fight to get back down the tree in the way he had planned and it would extremely dangerous to do it with a longbow in hand. Taking one last look at the horizon before he started to bounce on the branch getting higher and higher until finally, he dived headfirst down through the canopy. Falling past the first set of braches past him on the way down before reaching out to grab one on the second set using his momentum to swing himself around before letting go, changing the direction of his flight. Flinging himself to the net set of braches and using that method to make his way down the truck, jumping and swinging from branch to branch putting him stealth and mobility training to good use, timing each jump so that he was never in much danger. It was exhilarating, however, that feeling of being able to do what he just did, it was during times like this that a genuine smile made its way onto his face. It stayed there until hit feet made contact with the ground feeling it give move slightly under the force in which he landed, rolling his shoulder to ensure that all was well after that little excursion. Dusting himself off somewhat before heading out towards the festival in Brisshal he had to agree to take part in the hunting and capturing of an exotic creature for the Dark Harvest. He had given his word that he would complete that task, so it was something that he had no option but to finish.

However, he had to reach the area in a reasonable amount of time or else there was the chance that he would miss the other two players that he was supposed to be working with for the duration of the hunt. Making his way through the under bush making a beeline towards Stokbon. Avoiding the odd boar that tried to kill him on his way there, he didn’t; have time to play around there was already the possibility that he was going to be late. As he made his way to the meetup spot, he mind couldn’t help wonder want creature in this game would classify as strange and exotic. He had been playing the game for a bit of time certainly he wasn’t a veteran or experienced player, but he had seen a few giant animals at least three or four times the size they would be in the real world. Those didn’t count as exotic in the slightest so what would. A hybrid might be exciting but then where would he find a hybrid anywhere near the place he was supposed to be meeting the others, and there was also the fact that a hybrid might not exist at all. Well if nothing else this were going to be a complicated contract to full however he wouldn’t let something as small as that stop him. He had given his word to Mr. Munster, and he wasn’t going to let anything cause him to break it.

Picking up his pace as he drew closer to the back of the village there wasn’t any reason to keep the others waiting now that he was this close. Keeping up his pace even as he closed on the village’s gate, jumping up on its top bar using it as a platform to make it up onto the roof of one of the houses. Walking across the rooftops as he looked for the others. It was supposed to be a @Ueno Mizuki she was supposed to be one of those creatures a Felis and @Aselia he had met her before so at least someone he knew was going to be there. It was right about then that his foot caught on one of the lost tiles that covered the roof causing him to fall and roof straight off the house he was currently on and come to a stop right in front of a Felis that looked part wolf. Well, at least he was off to some kind of a start hoping that this wasn't the Felis that he was supposed to be on the lookout for. Jumping up to his feet dusting himself off, he had already lost any track that he might have been able to find so if nothing else be polite. "You are one of the others players I take it, Aalam at your disposal." Giving her a quick once over well at least she seemed to be doing better than him, she at least seemed to have any idea on what they would be tracking.

Roll 1+10
total =11

 

Already quite some time passed since Aselia joined Terrasphere. Never having been too fond of video-games in the first place even navigating the menus and all were something the white-hair had to get used to. It was an experience, and while not really negative it wasn't all that exciting either.

Learning-by-trying was the approach the red-eye took when it came to, well, learn these things. Surely Terrasphere had some sort of 200 page guide that explained the basics of navigating menus and all these things, but who read such stuff anyways?

Instead today marked the exciting date where Aselia would do her first quest! With other people to mess around with no less! Sure, the white-hair had no clue about catching weird animals BUT somehow, surely, it would work out, no? Tracking animals shouldn't be so different from tracking animals after all.

Though, what counted as strange anyways? In a world of steel and magic dragons and unicorns were clearly a common occurrence, no? Nonetheless, what counted was the experience rather than the result. Just how it was with those kids, it was all simply a game.

As the red-eye continued her way to the meeting place she wondered about something else entirely. Ueno Mizuki: A non-human. A Felis, or something, it was? With a fluffy-tail and ears and everything. The young Witch considered to pick something other than Human herself, outside of playing a female getting that whole otherworldly experience going and all, but ultimately decided against it.

Now, however, she was more curious than ever. Maybe even a little bit of regret about that Human pick. Clearly, she could ask the Felis a bunch of questions about this and that, and while some might argue that such questions about the race were rather... racist... even in an online-game(?), the white-hair was the last person who would be bothered by it.

No, actions summed up a thousand words and it were those actions that she well intended to put into practice. Maybe, without the Felis girl showing up as a participant, Aselia would have never accepted this quest in the first place? They were also going to make one of those weird parties or something, no? She doubted one could attack the other inside the same party. Though maybe the Felis could actually understand some fun. On the other hand, as weak as system counted her to be, she was always up for a good brawl.

Then, there was also this other guy, despite having met him to investigate her own instigated poisoning of the children she didn't have quite a picture of him. Though, today would surely change that, no?

Regardless, as Aselia arrived at the gate she could already spot the two outside of it, in-between some rural huts that didn't seem to have space inside the city.

"Hello there." The white-hair greeted them with a simple wave of her hand as she finally came closer. "Such a pleasure to meet you..." A dramatic, purposeful, pause. "...two."

Right, despite already knowing each other names in one way or another there was something about manners. They had to function as a group or something, no? "Just call me Aselia."

 

Mizuki was still considering the quest, trying to figure out the best way to catch something exotic enough that it would draw attention in this Strange Exhibition that their employers would be holding. It would almost certainly have to be something unique, or at the very least so rare that finding more than one should be nearly impossible. However at the same time they had to actually be capable of FINDING it, and even more importantly they had to be capable of taking it down without killing it... which meant they would have to be significantly stronger than it, since it was very difficult to capture someone or something without killing it if you didn't have enough power to restrain them in some way or another, to survive or evade their attacks. The alternative was to find something which was so extraordinarily tough that they could safely go mental on it without risking its death, but it was unlikely that they'd be so lucky as to find something which was both extraordinary enough to be worth displaying (outward appearances were going to be important as well), weak enough in the offence that it wouldn't just blow the three of them away and yet also tough enough that it would be able to sustain their combined assault without them having to hold back. And exotic creatures tended to generally be more dangerous...

The entire issue was making the Felis frown, and she would have continued doing so if her ears hadn't twitched in response to her catching a sound from above. Looking up Mizuki was in time to see someone fall down, the Felis jumping backwards in surprise and to make sure she wasn't hit by the falling person. They had slipped from one of the nearby roofs, which either meant they had no business being up there in the first place or they hadn't been paying enough attention... which in itself could be reason for them to have no business up there in the first place. If this was Earth Mizuki would have scolded them, but as it was she just watched with some wariness, her tail also curling to show that she was uncertain how to respond, until the man stood up and introduced himself. She nodded slowly, inspecting him before nodding.

"I am Ueno Mizuki, but you can address me as Mizuki. It is a pleasure to meet you @Aalam Abungu , although your arrival was a bit... unusual." She couldn't really say it in any more polite a manner, since the truth of the fact was that the man had essentially smashed into the ground. Trying to dismiss the awkwardness through sheer effort of ignoring it Mizuki looked around, then back at the man, the tip of her tail going from side to side quickly before she willed it into stillness. "As the quest dictates we'll be searching for a creature exotic enough to put on display, and with some effort and luck we should be able to capture it and bring it back to our employer. I myself have the Hunter mastery so once we've found tracks worth following we should at least be able to find it, but I'm still uncertain on how to go about finding something exotic enough that nobody would have seen it except possibly from a distance or in glimpses. I hope either you or the other participant have an idea regarding that." So far as Mizuki was aware the only real idea so far was to simply wander about and hope they stumbled into something.

Before the conversation could get much further, however, Mizuki's ears twitched once more and she looked in the direction from which she had heard footsteps, another human approaching. Just like Aalam she definitely didn't look like some villager or citizen, so she most likely was a player... and if she was heading straight for the two of them at the place they were supposed to meet as a group there were good odds of her being the third member of this little impromptu party. The white hair and red eyes were intriguing, but considering how Mizuki had given her own character heterochromic eyes and white highlights in black hair it wasn't something she should be getting too excited about... It'd just make her look strange if she got all worked up over the customization of another character.

She waved back at the woman, waiting for her to introduce herself. This one seemed to be a bit less forward than Aalam, but it wasn't entirely fair to compare someone's social aptitude to the guy who'd fall off a rooftop and still happily introduce himself first. Mizuki nodded, trying to smile as to appear more friendly but only succeeding marginally, at the very least not looking hostile or unwelcome. "Greetings @Aselia . I'm Ueno Mizuki, usually called Mizuki. It is my pleasure as well." She wasn't going to introduce Aalam: the man seemed fully capable of doing that himself, and there were limits to Mizuki's ability to appear social and inclusive. Once the introductions were out of the way Mizuki pointed away from the human settlement, towards the wilderness where beasts could be found in greater numbers.

"As the two of you are aware, we are here to hunt a creature exotic enough that it would draw a public at the Dark Harvest Festival. Unfortunately we have not been given any explanation of what kind of creature we are exactly to find other than that it has to be impressive, and it seems we are entirely left to our own devices in actually finding one. I have the Hunter mastery so I shouldn't have any issue finding a creature, but we'll have to think of a method to find the right type of creature." She looked at the two, then indicated further into the distance, where the plains were replaced by forests. "Since it has to appeal to a large audience for the duration of the festival we're looking for something with a distinct appearance, since while a creature with unusual biology might interest the more dedicated the common citizen most likely just wants to see something of which the extraordinary is easily seen. Since an extraordinary appearance is easily spotted I'd like to ask both of you if you know of any location where most people wouldn't go often, because rarely visited places are our best bet for finding something with a strange appearance. I myself haven't explored far beyond the plains and forests yet, so if either of you know of a good place that would be helpful."

 

Damn that was extremely painful having his pain setting set to realistic was great for teaching him how to avoid pain but it was terrible for when pain caught up to him. This was one of those cases he had felt his nose break when he had hit to floor; he was able to roll forward to stop him from landing on his neck and possibly killing him even in the game. To get one of those death afflictions would not be pleasant, not even considering how much it would just affect his play style. Well at least it seemed that at least the Miss Ueno was polite enough to turn the other way and pretend like that he hadn’t just fallen from a rooftop. A few second later Aeslia had arrived in the sense it was a good thing she had come after him it would have been doubly embarrassing if both of them had saw him. Well, that’s what he dissevered after trying to show off, it was a foolish gesture, and for doing it he probably look like a great fool. Damn he had even lost track of what there were supposed to be hunting. Well it was one of his worst starts to a contract then he had ever had. “Right well I hope we work well together.”

Cricking his neck to get rid of some on the stiffness that was present after his fall and rolling his shoulders for good measure. It would bed well if his shoulders froze up while they tried to capture an exotic creature. Well at least when they came upon the creature he should be able to subdue it. From what he know of the beast in the game there were only two options either they would have to find something that would be able to take the full brunt of the effort it would take to stop it, or something that was so hidden it would be considered strange. So far throughout his time in the world he hadn’t seen anything that would classify as strange there have been rumors however about certain bosses that have threated the stability of the world but those have been killed. There was a rumor that group of creatures were living somewhere under Dormont in the caravans, that were of a strange make. However there was no way as far as he could see that would allow them to capture one of them and get them to the festival.

“As for the beast itself I might be able to assist with getting it to calm down depending on how rebellious it could be. As for finding there could be a good chance that it doesn’t have to be something that a person has never seen. It could be a creature that id different from something that we know, like a wolf that was bright blue and green.” Thinking back to the areas that he had been throughout this experience in the game trying to figure out a possible location. “I cannot say were we would be able to find such a creature however there are a few cave systems in the near area that we could check. You tend to find some interesting things in the dark.” He had fought giant creature but they were no different in coloration or design than the smaller counterparts and wouldn’t make much of a splash. This would result in them not fulfilling the requirements of the contract and was something the simple could not happen, not while he was still able to move.

Roll 88+(modifier) 10= 98
total=109

 

Finally getting a better look at the wolf girl the white-hair eyed her closely. Her first Felis. The tail was... way more bushy than she imagined it to be. Like, a lot. What animal was she supposed to be? Or maybe she simply liked fluffy tails. Then, her eyes, which only reminded Aselia of her own failure. Why she hadn't thought of using Heterochromia herself? It was way too unusual as if she had even considered it and, ultimately, didn't want to spend hours on character creation. Maybe it was a feature solely limited to Felis, too? Maybe they could even change their Iris to look more feral or something. Regardless, in Aselia's case it would have been the classical red/blue combination.

For a second Aselia even considered complimenting the Felis on her Avatar. But doing that as first order of business? Just like that? No. If anything it had to be in the weirdest situation possible. Maximizing the effect and all.

Not to mention that, as much as the Witch liked to mess around, another reason she decided to pick the female gender over the male was simply for the sake of making fun out of a certain group of individuals. The thirsty kind, as some referred to them. So making such a bold move had a high chance of making her look just like those people right now. No, timing was everything.

Shaking her head a bit to rid herself of the fascinating thoughts about having met her first Felis the Witch now concentrated on matters at hand. "Well. I'm not a hunter by profession but finding something rather exotic that the world has never, or rarely, seen before so close to town? I highly doubt that. But in case we do chances are it would most likely be something really aggressive, no?"

Pausing for a second Aselia was thinking before continuing. "I... don't have much experience with this whole fantasy shenanigans but speaking of the real world, animals that aren't native to their surroundings in the first place are considered 'exotic', no? I'm sure Indians don't go all "Oooohhh! So awesome!" about seeing some random Elephant walking on the pavement."

"Now, of course, as Aalam said if that Elephant happened to be Dumbo that'd be on a whole other level. Maybe we're lucky to find some sort of animal having albinism? Just like he said. Given said animal would even survive long enough in that case." Maybe the red-eye was thinking too much inside the box but if required she could always change her perspective. Though no matter what, the Witch thought that way more luck than actual skill seemed involved in this.

"Otherwise, maybe they just want something fun for the kids? Y'know, these poor things you see in a petting zoo and all."

 

Mizuki listened patiently as her two companions voiced their opinions, nodding as the two of them each had valuable things to say. She was glad of that, since she would've felt nervous if it turned it out all came down on her head. It was one of her first opportunities to work together, so even if she felt like she could've done this on her own as well she might as well be happy that the people she got paired up with were capable and willing to provide input. Still, she sighed, because as valuable as their insight was the truth wasn't going to make their quest any easier.

"You are both right, honestly: finding something truly new is nigh impossible, so instead we'll just have to find something which is interesting enough." Of course as long as their employer was happy it wouldn't matter even if they brought in a diseased rat, but Mizuki wasn't happy with the idea of doing a half-assed job on one her first missions. "That said if you think you are capable of calming down and taming the beast once we've found something suitable that will be a great help. I don't know whether exotic creatures are harder to tame or not but it's a better shot than trying to subdue it by force." Mizuki had read of the Beast Taming mastery, and admittedly it did sound interesting to be able to turn creatures into your allies and companions. If they did find something she'd like to see how Aalam took care of it.

"What I do know that the more aggressive the creature is the more difficult it would be to calm down, so let's try to find something with a calm temperament so Aalam can take a shot at taming it, if the two of you think it's a good idea. I myself think it's a decent idea of Aalam's, since we could always fall back to subduing it with violence if he tried and it turned out not to work." She shrugged, trying to not imply that she believed he was going to fail. She would be happier if he did succeed, since it would be interesting to watch and their employer would probably prefer it if they brought the creature back hale and hearty.

However Aselia did have another valuable comment, one that gave Mizuki pause as she considered it. "You do have a very valid point regarding what is considered rare. I had been looking at it from the perspective of us from Earth, who get to see many different things through easy travelling, the internet and zoos. But the main crowd at the festival would be NPCs, and those have neither of the latter and most likely wouldn't travel a lot... so maybe we could find something interesting just by going further away from Brisshal and capturing something from another zone..." Her voice trailed off as she went through with that train of thought, a frown appearing on her face. "The only issue would be that we would still get the beast all the way back to the employer, so if we went too far to look for something the people from around here wouldn't have seen yet it could get problematic... And if we travelled too far we might end up in a zone where the creatures are a lot stronger than here, the starting zone." It was an interesting idea, but Mizuki would rather refrain from using it unless they had no other options closer by 'home'.

"Now that you mention it, I'm curious how genetic mutations work in this world. Would albinos be frailer than others? Do albinos even exist outside of characters created by players? If we do encounter an albino we could try capturing it, but I wouldn't know how to search for one so I would suggest we keep an eye out but don't dedicate ourselves to finding it unless we have a clear lead." Mizuki had seen no sign of albinos so far so whether they existed in this world was honestly an unknown. It would be nice to find one though... It'd certainly please the employer, since that would be quite the exotic appearance. "As for the petting zoo idea... I believe not. Considering the name of our employer's enterprise and the demand for something exotic I believe that they want something which would impress the masses. We could go back and ask whether that would be an acceptable substitute, of course."

Mizuki put all her thoughts in a line, so she'd speak clearly as she suggested their course of action for the moment. "So, as it stands: I'd suggest we go with Aalam's idea and visit those caves, since most villagers wouldn't enter caves inhabited by animals. If possible Aalam can try to tame it, but if that happens to fail or if we only find highly aggressive creatures we'll resort to subduing our target with force, taking care not to kill or cripple it in the process. As the both of you correctly pointed out we don't need something otherworldly, as long as it would make an impressive sight and it's unlikely that the NPCs have seen it before, or at least regularly. If we do this I'd suggest that I go first, since I have the Hunting mastery so I can look for tracks and trails." She looked at the both of them. "Does either of you have any suggestions or objections, or shall we go with this? I don't remember our employer specifying whether we had a time limit beyond that he needs it delivered before the actual festival starts, but I'm presuming that he would prefer it sooner rather than later. That doesn't mean we should hurry, but I'd suggest not spending too long discussing it." Honestly Mizuki would rather they didn't have too many objections, since while she wasn't exactly shy or disliked the company of others she would rather not get into an argument, and she wasn't sure if she cold hold her temper if they spent hours discussing the plan of approach.
@Aalam Abungu @Aselia

 

Well, she had a point there was no guarantee that they would be able to find a creature that would be genuinely exotic in well the eyes if a player. However, the eyes of an NPC that was something much more manageable for he knew for a fact that many of those NPC never left the comfort of their villages. It was a fear of the unknown that keen them in the safety of the towns and villages, Ueno was right however they would still have to get whatever the creature was back to the festival if there was to be any possibility of rewards for the job. That was always the difficulty with situations like this to bring the creature back alive for rewards he might be able to keep whatever they found calm, but there was a limit to his skill. If the beast were too mighty, it would be able to resist the ability to manipulate it any creature like that, however, would be too far out of their range of expertise to capture. So it was a moot point to worry about for now.

She was right about that aggression however it was incredibility challenging to tame a beast that hated the person that was trying to tame it. There tended to be too much rage and anger stored in the soul and nothing could be until the creature was seriously injured. That would result in a failure of the object if anything and that led to a failure to the quest in general which couldn’t be accepted. He could see that she didn’t believe that he didn’t have much of a chance to subdue the creature peacefully, but the fact of the matter was she was partially correct. It was always tricky to do even with everyday animals. However he wasn’t about to let that show in his voice, never let anyone know what’s on your mind as his father used to say.

An albino or something with an exotic coloring, however, was something doable it was something that was much easier in the long run. For a family of golden bats might being as much attention in a small town as a dragon would have created back on earth. “No I don’t believe that an albino would be frailer than one of a normal color pallet, but the likely hood of running into one would be much rare given the lack of search resources like google. The game is ever evolving so if a player albino got lose and was able to breed in the wild then yes there would be a possibility of finding something well interesting.”

“Well as for the plan it sounds worthy enough to me so I have no objections and will carry it out. I do know that there is a few cave systems northeast of this location, but I cannot tell you what is in those caves for I have only gone a few meters in one. We might be able to find something in there with your hunting skills I was never able to have any luck, but then again I am not a hunter you are. So If there is no problem I can lead the way to the cave and then I will leave the tracking to you.”

@Ueno Mizuki @Aselia

 

Aselia listened quietly to the both of them. More-or-less they all tended to agree on way or another. Except there was one thing that stood oddly out for the white-hair.

It wasn't even anything serious. Nothing of value to their overall situation. Maybe just a slip of the tongue. Maybe Aalam was just that kind of honest man. A honest person with quite the unique taste. "My, my. Aalam. 'If a player albino got loose and was able to breed'? You aren't speaking, perhaps, of experience? Animal Tamer, huh? Now it's all coming together. The game is ever evolving, after all." The first time they had met the white-hair had to play the role of a tearing-down victim. There was no time to tease anyone at all. Now, however, he was as much of a victim as the Wolf Girl would soon be.

"But don't worry! I know that urge of... experimentation... all too well. Life would be boring otherwise, no? I,... " Now Aselia, with a never changing grin, peeked over to Ueno, putting emphasis on a single word. "...or the Felis, aren't the kind of people to judge someone for something like that, right?" Alright, that was enough. Not even giving Ueno a chance to answer Aselia shrugged before moving slowly towards the forest. "Maybe we can lure an Albino out by laying a trap with some Sun Lotion?"

She actually had no clue where those cave entrances were though. "Also, not to rain down on our small parade before it even started, but it's worth considering that even if they're NPC living in Nowhereville I doubt this Exhibition thing is happening for the first time?" What Aselia was implying was simply the fact that there was a likely chance that most NPCs have already seen some 'exciting' animal - with the exception of the young ones.

Crossing her arms behind her back as she continued walking the red-eye also added: "As for the animal taming itself I could try but I doubt they'd listen if I ask them nicely to spend the rest of their lives holed up in a small cage, robbed of their virtual freedom."

 

It seemed that they had managed to think up a good plan, something the three of them could agree on. Mizuki was glad, since it would've been unpleasant if her first group quest resulted in a large argument. If this quest went well she'd be more confident to try working together in the future. Although when Aalam began to talk about the albinos Mizuki blinked, one of her ears twitching as she was pretty sure she just misheard something. She didn't want to actually draw attention to it in case that would embarrass Aalam, so she decided to just pretend she had heard nothing. "If albinos in this world don't suffer from ailments that would be fortunate." Granted Mizuki didn't think that albinos on Earth were always doomed to die young but she did remember reading something about how they usually were more likely to catch a disease or something along those lines. However she couldn't say it with absolute certainty and it might not even apply here, so the point was moot anyway. And Aalam might actually have experience with the issue.

Unfortunately it seemed Aselia had heard the same thing, and unlike Mizuki the other woman didn't decide to just let it slide, instead drawing all the attention towards how Aalam (most likely accidentally) had insinuated that a way for albinos to appear in the wild would be for a player to go out and breed with the monsters. Mizuki herself felt her cheeks go red just slightly as she tried to keep her face straight, listening to Aselia teasing the man before she scraped her throat, trying to get the woman to stop. However she just kept going, apparently finding great joy in teasing the man about his word choice, leaving the Felis somewhat irritated as she had been glad that there weren't any issues in communication or cooperation, but she didn't know Aalam well enough to say whether he'd just take this in stride or get angry about it. She herself most likely would've become defensive...

"I would try not to judge but I would say now is not the time to go into deep discussion over the topic. Let's instead just head out and go to those caves, since the sooner we can catch something the better. Our employer is going to have to adapt his display according to what we catch, after all." Of course unless they found something really strange the same cage or container could probably be used, but Mizuki was pretty sure the employer would still prefer it if the requested exotic animal was delivered quickly.

"I assume that this festival occurs yearly, so most likely they've had the opportunity to see something extraordinary before. However that doesn't mean that we might not come across something worth showing off anyway, and our other option is to just forfeit the mission." She didn't say this with an aggressive or hostile tone of voice, she was just trying to explain that even if Aselia brought up a valid point there wasn't much they could do about it. They had to at least try to get an exotic beast, and Mizuki doubted that the quest would be available so readily if it was actually impossible to complete it satisfactory. She wouldn't be too angry if they ended up failing, since it was true since the requirements were deceptively strict, but she wasn't going to give up because of that either, at least not until it became clear the chances of success really were too low.

"For now let's just head to the caves. Aselia, unless you know where the caves are I think we should let Aalam walk in front." Mizuki didn't know in which direction Aselia was walking, or to be more precise where Aselia thought she was going. She could be heading in the right direction (Mizuki quickly checked it on the compass to confirm that Aselia was in fact roughly heading northeast), so she could also be aware of the location of the caves. Well, as long as they actually got there it didn't matter too much to Mizuki. If everything else failed she could just use the map to try and find it herself, although if Aselia and Aalam together couldn't find the caves she would have to start getting suspicious about either the caves or their combined competence. And that wouldn't do any good for their cooperation, no matter which option she took.

As they walked Mizuki considered how to approach the mission in detail. She doubted that bats would be a valid target, even if there were probably going to be a fair amount of those in any natural cave system. Beyond that she thought there would be... spiders and mice? Rats? She wasn't entirely sure. Honestly she was kind of putting her hopes in the idea that maybe some creatures in there had absorbed the magic of the world around them in some way to turn into a more interesting creature than a bat. And hopefully more easily kept in a cage, since she doubted that a cage meant to hold a larger creature was going to do much for a bat. The people of Terrasphere did have glass, but they didn't have in quite as much abundance as the people of Earth and they were less inclined to use it for unimportant matters. Which made sense, since one of the main reasons why glass was a popular material on Earth was because modern techniques made it easy to create and shape. Mizuki's expertise on glass kind of began and ended with 'you heat up sand and use some other stuff to turn it into glass proper' but she was pretty sure that with the electric machinery it was a lot easier to produce adequate and reliable heat than what magic there was available here.

"If you also have Beast Taming as a mastery I would appreciate it if you also tried, but I think that without that mastery there's little chance of success." Mizuki frowned, as it sounded a bit like Aselia was criticizing the entire objective of the mission. Maybe something to point out later on if she persisted in it?
@Aalam Abungu @Aselia

 

Aalam heard what Aselia had to say and it didn’t surprise him that this was what she was indeed like, he had suspected something was off form that moment he first met her but at the time a friend had put those suspicions on hold. He let it go at the time, and it seemed that he would have to let to go for now because causing an incident would not help their job. However, there would come a time when he would get even with everything that she had done and it would be paid in full with a bit of interest added. She was cruel though, and that brought the urge to shut her up, but things had to be sacrificed when one agreed to a job. Even if she was suggest something that he found despicable, Aalam knew who he was so he could bear the brunt of her insults. However, if Ueno decides that she wanted to take it out of Aselia’s ass, then he wouldn’t stop her. However, if there was any embarrassment from what he had mistakenly said then no of it showed on his face, it stayed in the practiced neutral position. “Hmm, I seemed to have missed an apostrophe on the end of the player. Good of you to notice my grammatical mistake there. However, I would suggest that you don’t suggest such a thing about someone else they might not take it with such grace.”

However, she was a minor problem there was still the primary task of trying to find a creature that they would be able to capture and bring back to the festival. Aselia was heading the general direction, but she was off by a few degrees if she kept walking along that path she would miss the cave entirely, and the job required a party. So he had to correct her even if he would have preferred her just to get lost in those hills. So he started off in a direct a bit to the left of where she was facing. “Also I wouldn’t continue down that way there is a great chance that you will get lost. I marked each tree with an arrowhead the points in the direction that you should go I meant to go back and fully explore the cave system one day guess it will be today.” Letting his hand run across one such mark brushing away a bit of dust that seemed to have collected since the last time he had used the route. ‘The arrow should have a curved ending, or else it’s not one of mine's so be wary.”

After giving a bit of warning, he kept moving along the path keeping his eyes out looking for those marks he had left in place to lead the way. The caves were not much of a secret, but they were a bit difficult to find if one didn’t know where to look. There was a slim chance that they would see anything that would be wholly unexpected but there was still a chance. He knew there were bats and other creatures of the like, but that was only a few feet inside what was in the deeper reaches of the caves were still unknown to him. “You would be surprised what a beast will do if you can ask it to properly” He could have let it there but he could resist giving her a jab back after what she said about Ueno, his honor could take anything she tried but to insult another for no reason could not be allowed. “For example, you are going to follow me because I know the way not matter if you like it or not. So yes I can get a beast to do what I ask of it.”

@Ueno Mizuki @Aselia

 

Well... that turned out rather sour? The white-hair saw the Felis frown all too well and despite Aalam taking her words rather well his last sentence was clear evidence that this was not the case. 'you are going to follow me no matter if you like it or not' was, after all, not the 'friendly' kind of tone.

"Aye, aye Captain! Lead the way then!" Aselia simply nodded before putting herself in line, behind, Aalam. Her 'yes' had been genuine without any ridicule or sarcasm.

"Sadly, I do not have the beast taming mastery. All I can offer is an annoying voice in my head making fun of all, and everything, including me. Oh and she... it?... really seems to hate children, too." That said, Kiko, as that... things... name was had been rather silent recently. Then again the white-hair didn't spend all too much time meditating.

With Mizuki's 'question' about beast taming answered the red-eyes gaze wandered back to Aalam. For a second she considered to be blunt as both Mizuki and him, after all, weren't too keen on her antics. "I'm glad you're taking this so easy, Aalam! I have been meeting way too many stuck up people recently that can't take a little fun. Like, a week ago, there was this guy, called himself a Fiend Knight or something. He seemed really grumpy despite all the entertainment we've had together."

With that said, however, the red-eye had just as much intention as the other two in getting this mission done successful. "And if you're positive that asking a Beast so straight-forward is indeed working I might just go ahead and try that!" She added with a lighthearted smile before actually getting a bit more serious again.

"Say, if we're going into this cave, it's gonna be pretty dark, no? Something something natural habitat of the creatures living there. So disturbing them with some light source would only make it harder to find them? Which brings me to my question: Do you Felis have night-vision of some sort?" After all if hunting a beast in the dark was easier that way having a person to lead the group would have been immensely helpful.

 

Mizuki sighed inwardly as she got the impression that things weren't going to go as well as she had hoped that they would go. It seemed like Aalam wasn't too pleased by the suggestion that Aselia made, which wasn't very surprising. However Aalam fortunately had enough presence of mind to respond calmly rather than with anger, so that was one potential bomb defused... At least for now. It was clear that Aselia had neither accidentally misunderstood what Aalam had really meant to say, nor had she give the reply that she did without knowing that it might agitate the man. It was all fine and well to use some jokes to lighten the mood, but Mizuki wasn't sure if Aselia's joke was the right kind: there were limits to what one could shrug off as a jab meant to be amusing more than insulting, and bestiality happened to be high on the list of things people could be touchy about. There were worse things, much, much worse things, but for now Mizuki was just going to try and keep this group from falling apart too heavily. At least she would make an attempt, even if she was aware that she was a poor choice for this task, not being that social herself.

The way that Aalam corrected Aselia's path also supported Mizuki's suspicions that this group might be able to get some work done, but it wouldn't be without tension as even when he stayed calm it wasn't difficult to tell that Aalam wasn't amused by Aselia's joke. That, or she might be reading too much into things: she wasn't too sure. Either way, for now she would remain cautious, and hope that things would get better in terms of cooperation from here on out, as she followed Aalam together with Aselia as the main explained that he had used arrow markings to remind himself the way to the caves. Mizuki had been planning to memorize their location and rely on the map that the game provided, but Aalam method might be easier to use, at least when you're still getting used to the landscape.

"I... see." Mizuki wasn't too sure what to say about Aselia's comment about having a voice in her head which made fun of everything. The best she could think of was something akin to an inner critic, where someone couldn't help but question everything and point out the flaws. Although she wasn't sure if that was exactly the same... Mizuki was a worrier, so she often thought about potential flaws, but that wasn't exactly the same as a voice which made fun of everything. Should she ask what exactly Aselia meant, or just take it at face value and not inquire any further? "That is interesting to know." Was all Mizuki said, since she wasn't sure what else she could say to something as... unexpected as that. "Maybe not too good for finding and taming beasts, but better for finding flaws in our ideas?" Even if it was making fun, maybe that voice could still act as a more playful inner critic?

After that there was another piece of interaction, in which Aselia expressed appreciation for Aalam staying so calm in the face of what she had been suggesting. Mizuki honestly couldn't say whether that was sarcasm or not, so for now she just kept out of that unless she was given reason to believe it was actually sarcasm. While she didn't want to be too blunt about it being blunt would still be better than the cooperation worsening... Maybe she was worrying too much again. Maybe she should just accept the initial roughness as a harmless incident and not immediately assume that Aselia and Aalam were almost at one another's throats. "A fiend knight? I don't remember hearing that term before." The term was rather self-explanatory, though: knights and fiends. Some kind of unholy warrior or something.

She sighed again, this time outwardly, at the next exchange, finally deciding to speak up. "I think it would be better if we didn't call each other beasts... And I'd appreciate it if we tried to get along. Even if this job isn't too extraordinary cooperation would still help a lot." That was probably not even remotely the best way of addressing the issue, but she was hoping that by putting it out in the open she would make it a bit harder for either side to continue with the remarks which Mizuki was pretty sure by this point weren't meant to be pleasant. "I don't know how exactly the Beast Taming mastery functions but I assume that you win the animals over by being nice to them, so talking might be effective. However beyond that I'd rather observe for myself than make guesses based on nothing more than speculation."

Then came the question about whether Mizuki had night vision. The Felis blinked, then shook her head and pointed towards her eyes with one finger. "I do not, unfortunately. I do not know whether only NPC Felics are granted night vision as a racial trait or if none of us do, but I presume that the designers of this game thought themselves wiser not to grant us a trait which would grant us such a large benefit in rather specialized situations." She then frowned, and shook her head. "Actually, I believe I must correct myself. I do not have night vision from being a Felis. However I do have an improved Investigation Mode thanks to my possession of the Hunting mastery, which means that I will be better at making my way through dark areas and keep track of the creatures around me. As such once we are at the caves I can take the lead, since you do have a point that it would be easier to find a suitable creature if we do not bring any light with us that might disturb them otherwise. Of course that would mean that the two of you would be reliant on me to find the way back, so if you would rather not trust me with that task it might be better to risk bringing a light."
@Aalam Abungu @Aselia

 

Well it seemed that the group was in agreement it wasn’t pretty, and it didn’t look to be one of the best, but it would do, and what else could a person ask for right then and there. He knew something was about with Aselia the first time he had met her back on the case of the children poisoning. He should have acted them, but with Sol there it was difficult she always saw the best in people and as much as he would have preferred to stop her, he couldn’t bear the fact he might disturb that light. However, if Aselia did try something like that again, he would have to show her why manners make the man. Well in her case the woman. Those though could be dealt with later, however, they still had a job that needs to be completed. Yet, if Aselis repeated those things about Mizuki he would have to, unfortunately, teach her some manners and he was confident that it would be an excruciating exercise.

Making sure to check the trunks of the trees as they walked by ensuring that they wouldn’t get lost, the cave was a bit away from the village, and the forest was pretty dense. It was easy to forget one’s way if they weren’t careful or if someone didn’t watch where they were going. Brushing a cobweb from one of the tree seeing that they had reached a fork in the path, making a close inspection of the arrow that was carved into the bark. It seemed that the arrowhead had become a bit worn from the weather it wasn’t as easy to determine which way they should continue to head down. It took him a few seconds to try and determine the proper path it would do no go for them to get lost and it being his fault. Aselia would never let him hear the end of it especially since he just enforced don’t the point that she should be following him.

He did raise and eyes brow at the mention of the Fiend Knight; he only knew one person by who the title belonged to and it was his Lord Seto, and his grumpiness could believe if they were talking about the same person. His lord always had too much on his mind at any one time that was one of the reasons he came to join in service to his Dukedom. He was a good man underneath all of that worry and rage and well he was looking for people to join in his service. This quest would make a good interview of skills and the like if he were lucky he might be able to get them to swear in the duke’s service. He could always use more people in his court.

A second eyebrow was raised when he heard Mizuki comment it seemed that they had upset her with the trading of insults. Hmm, she would get thicker skin one day, but for this day he would listen to her request and stop with the insults. Biting his tongue was he lead the way well at least then it would be quiet. “There are two ways to tame a beast the first is what most do; you break the creature’s spirit its will once you do that then you can usually train it to do anything that you want. The second is much harder you must convince the creature to follow you out of its own free will. To befriend it so that it trusts you and you must trust it, which is much more difficult.” He would have been content to leave all conversation at that, but it seems that Aselia had brought up something that he had overlooked. How they would see inside the cave however Mizuki had offered up a solution. She had advance hunting ability which gave her a boost in perception in darkness and they should simply trust her to lead the way. It simply came down to a matter of trust and seeing as they were coming on the cave it seemed that he didn’t have much of choice. “I will trust you to lead.” It was that simple for him.

@Aselia @Ueno Mizuki

 

Ultimately it seemed like both of these people didn't push the issue any further. It was kind of sad, really, while her words were indeed supposed to agitate a bit they were, in a weird sense, also honest. She had, after all, truly no malicious intentions against any of them.

Listening to the Felis about the night vision the red-eye seemed rather surprised. Then again having 'savage' ways to make light wasn't that far of a stretch. If only she had known about the apparent night vision mode that every player possessed at this point in time though... .

"I'll be in your care then." It wasn't even an issue of trust. It literally didn't matter. Letting her take the lead was bound to be potentially more interesting. And who knew maybe they would end up dropping Aresia in some god-forsaken hole after what she did? Nah... no way.

As the group continued walking, following Aalam's lead, they soon reached a multitude of holes reaching depper into the earth. "Is that it?" She asked purely rhetorical before starting to break off a few fitting branches. "Just in case we might need a torch." She explained as she stepped closer.

With the green of the forest already making it hard for the pure sun-light to come through it came apparent that it wouldn't take all too long until their vision would be that of pure darkness safe whatever light-producing mushrooms might exist.

"Right..." The woman spoke up once again. "As much as I like to run my mouth off, I'm aware we should be as silent as possible in there."

@Aalam Abungu @Ueno Mizuki