Private - Ring That Binds

Yladia was a beautiful country, but that wasn't the reason that Karr had made the long trek to the far off land. No, he was here on Aristocracy business, a quest that involved getting a ring back from a merchant that had been stolen, though the quest giver couldn't provide any proof that the ring was theirs to begin with. That didn't really matter to Karr all that much, since the pay was more than enough to dissuade him from asking questions about it all that much. He'd thought that would be it, that he would travel to Yladia and that would be it, though before he'd even left for the country, he'd received some news that didn't make him feel all that nice about the quest. He'd be needing assistance, since apparently the merchant was quite the capable fighter himself.

This was how he'd found himself in an Aristocracy shelter in the country, waiting for his assigned partner to show themselves, going over what he knew about the quest in his head. They had two targets, one primary and one secondary, that they had to achieve by any means necessary. Objective number one was easy and self explanatory: obtain the ring that the quest giver wanted and bring it back to the Aristocracy in order to return it to the rightful owner. The secondary objective, if possible, was a lot more abstract, or at least it seemed to be to Karr, who was actually excited to have such an open quest. In some way, however he and whoever his partner was could think up, they had to put the merchant out of business one way or another.

This left just as many questions as answers though. They had a picture to go off of and nothing else. Just a picture and a general location. He scowled, bringing his feet up to rest them on the table that he was sat at, peering down at the mask he owned. It wasn't anything special, it just existed to hide his face from view if he needed to. It wouldn't protect him in a fight against much more than stray debris, like rocks and pebbles. Hopefully his partner wasn't the type of person that was all muscle and no brains, since it was an absolute drag having to do all of the heavy thinking himself. Sure, he was good at thinking and he could direct a brainless simpleton easily enough, but he wanted somebody that would contribute more than just punching power to this whole operation. And heck, if it were somebody intelligent, at least he could get some decent conversation out of it if nothing else.

He grunted to himself, taking a swig from the mug in his hand as he counted down the minutes, tossing a dagger up and down in his free hand. How long was this partner of his going to make him wait, sitting here all by himself? Maybe they'd picked up the quest after him? Or were further away than he was when they'd accepted the quest? Hell, he didn't even know if they'd be a guy or a girl.

A sudden creak from the locked door drew his attention Only his partner would have been given the key, unless somebody had picked the lock. He sighed, flipping the dagger around to wield it properly, glaring daggers at the door, no pun intended. "Who's there? Upper class or lower class?" Upper class referring to the Aristocracy and lower class referring to those who were not.

 

Acceptance is the first step

Eryl Justice heard a soft ping, the ping she had gotten used to meaning from past VR games meant she was assigned a quest. Her alabaster hand extended at the elbow as she placed her forefinger and thumb together the redhead’s menu appeared. A small red dot in the corner provided her a chance to read more. With a simple flick of her wrist, Eryl opened the drop down menu and more words appeared.


Her left eyebrow arched in mild surprise. She hadn’t joined the aristocracy an hour ago and a quest had already presented itself. There was something about a ring stolen from some patron willing to pay well for its recovery. Standard fluff, all very promising.


Her eyebrows furrowed as Eryl reached the end of the drop down menu. She had to work with someone else. “Damn it.”


Her left hand automatically was moved toward the decline button. She didn’t work with others as a rule. They tended more often than not to end badly. But the sum was lucrative, and she didn’t know if or when she’d be offered a better quest. Grinding would only get her so far so before the game became boring. If worst came to worst she could abandon the quest and log out. Or, stab this one in the back and take his loot. She didn’t want to get labeled as a “PK” this early in the game, but if she had to, so be it.


Her wrist flicked and a triumphant jingle emanated from the menu.


And that was that.

First impressions are everything

Eryl halted at the tavern, placing her hands on her hips. It was small, little more than a four room motel with a common eating room. It was secluded and private. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about prying eyes or interference.


She swung the door open and saw that the room was all but empty. Besides the NPC barkeep behind the counter, there was only one other being inside. They demanded to know if she was upper class or not. She tilted her red head to the side slightly.


“The Highest of the Upper Class,” she answered casually.


As he glared at her, the stranger would see a shapely, well-endowed woman with flowing, well-kept hair. Her dark eyes stared back at him with a strong, determined stare that could bear through steel or into a soul. A fine purple silken tunic that hugged her figure perfectly reached to her mid thigh in, amplifying her figure with a low v-neck. Around her middle it was tied with a red sash that kept a gilded two handed sword by her right side. A pair of boots were rose up to just below her knee, the only covering for her legs. A trial of white flowers along embroidered on its shimmering surface graced her left side.


Eryl took a seat across from the stranger. She could enter investigation mode and know who he was. And he could do the same for her, but Eryl believed in introductions nonetheless.


“Eryl,” she said. “I’m here on a retrieval mission, looking for a thief who stole a very valuable ring by the name of Garron Foxfeet. But more than that,” she inclined her head, “I think that I’m here to make an example of him. And you are?”

@Karr Hawkesridge

 

Highest of the upper class, hmm? It seemed like his new temporary partner was more full of themselves than he'd expected them to be, though at least the response clearly identified the person to him as being female. Not that it mattered of course, but he could only barely restrain himself from sighing in relief, that it was not some musclebound meathead that could only punch and slash his way out of the situation at hand. And the response also served to put his mind at ease, as he flipped his dagger around and sheathed it again, watching the newcomer.

She was a looker, he would give her that. With flowing hair, red like roses and armor in all of the right places, she looked every bit like some sort of refined warrior princess, which he could only assume was intentional, much like his own dark prince looking avatar. Though, unlike her, he assumed, he'd actually made his online self as close to identical to his real self as possible.

He smirked as she took the seat across from him, eyes raking up and down her form without any sort of care in the world. Certainly, she was quite the looker and even better, she seemed to have an air about her that told him she was more than just a suit of armor and a weapon. She seemed almost dangerous. He could deal with dangerous. A grin graced his lips as they sat across from each other, both of them knew that they could investigate the other, but there was really no need for that.

"Eryl, hmm? A lovely name for a lovely woman." He kept his reclined, relaxed posture as he watched her, listening that she was definitely his partner. Not that he'd expected anybody else to come through those doors, but he could never be too sure. At least she seemed like she knew what she was doing. "Ah, you're my partner on the Foxfeet job then? A lovely piece of work this will be." Truly, he was looking forward to completing that secondary objective. Surely, as she said, making an example of him would be the most satisfying thing ever.

"So, Eryl..." He trailed off, eyes traveling her frame again as he stared unabated. "I'm Karr. It's a pleasure to work with me, I'm sure." He grinned, waving a hand as if dispelling a joke, focusing his eyes on her. "Almost as much of a pleasure as it was to watch you walk through those doors. I had half expected some giant oaf. You however..." He winked, before his expression suddenly sunk into a serious one, eyes becoming cold and hard, like coal or steel.

"So tell me, what Masteries do you have? Did you come up with any plans on the way?" He asked, before looking down at himself. Right, it was probably prudent to give away information about himself first, to foster a little bit of trust between them. "I have Illusion Magic, Piercing and Black Magic. I tend to fight meaner than I fight fair."

 

A Table with a view

The attention he paid her wasn’t lost on Eryl. She was used to it, in games like this a lot of people didn’t even try to contain their deepest desires. It was what attracted many to it. She didn’t blame him either, she was hot after all, and he was just falling prey to her avatar. In the real world, Aalin would have been down to tap that too if she ran into Eryl.


As she sat, Eryl crossed her arms under her ample breasts, giving Karr no impediment to the view. Her looks were a tool after all, she might as well use them to their full potential. She smirked at his comment about her having a lovely name, and allowing his words to say what his eyes had been clearly enjoying. While he was sizing her up, she was doing the same, but with different intentions. She was gauging his demeanor, whether he would be an asset or a hinderance on this mission, and if he was worth her time for future endeavors. Her resolved brown eyes met his red with an intense stare.


“I have high hopes for this job,” she said as he commented that this would be a piece of work. It wasn’t exactly her first quest, but he didn’t need to know where all she had come from or where she was going. Maybe later, if he proved himself. Her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief, “I hope you can go the distance.”


She suppressed an eyeroll at his self-centered introduction. It was pretty obvious he loved himself more than he loved even the view. He was selfish, that was good. She could always count on a selfish person. It was the non-selfish ones she had to be warry of.


“Fighting fair is for those who want to lose,” she said evenly, “If you want fair, you don’t want to fight. I am skilled with the blade, I’m light on my feet, and I’m pretty good at the arcane arts. I have what some would call,” without looking she pointed to the bartender. As if on cue, he fumbled the glass in his hands he had been drying on his automation. It dropped to the ground, shattering into a thousand pixels. “Clairvoyance.”


When he asked about any plans, Eryl leaned forward, placing her elbows on the wooden table between her and her partner. Karr would get a healthy view of her cleavage from the low V-neck her purple tunic had come with. Eryl was sure he’d probably take advantage of his special chance to see her considering he didn’t have a problem with that when she was upright. “I have a few thoughts yes. We might want to start with questioning the locals where Foxfeet was last known to appear. I’m not familiar with him needing a ring for any special reason. My bet is he is either off to sell it, or he was hired on to steal it in the first place. Either way, the locals would be able to lend us a bit more knowledge on where to look next, according to my bets. Once we know that,” she cocked her head to the side, “the hard part is done, wouldn’t you agree?”


Her hand tapped the wooden table, hopefully breaking Karr from any boob-induced stupor the vantage point had given him, “Your call, take the plan or make your own. Either way, we should get on the move soon. I don’t know what Foxfeet has as far as allies go, and I don’t want to find out.”

@Karr Hawkesridge

 

Well, one thing was for sure, the woman didn't exactly try to mask the fact that she knew he was looking, or even seem all that upset about it. Either way, it wasn't like he was just going to stop. If he stopped doing things just because people didn't like it, he'd probably never get anywhere in life, either in game or in reality. People were always going to disagree with whatever he did, so why should he even bother to think or care about their opinions of him. It wasn't as if anybody could actually do anything and he felt like he could probably handle this Eryl woman, should she decide to flip and attack him for whatever reason.

He chuckled as she mentioned hoping that he could go the distance, shaking his head with an amused grin stretched across his lips, rolling his eyes. Could he go the distance? What a silly question. "Oh going the distance really isn't much of a question, love. The real question is are you willing to keep up with me?" He shrugged, looking at his wrist as if inspecting a watch that wasn't there. Really, he had cast a minor illusion on himself that always showed him the time when he glanced at his wrist.

At Eryl's cue, he turned to watch the bartender fumble with the glass he'd been holding, causing Karr to grin slightly more. Clairvoyance, huh? That was certainly an interesting skill to have and could probably end up being pretty interesting in the long run. "Hmm, so you see the future huh? Very handy, I must say. Though, I do wonder if the future you see is always set in stone, until you change it?" He pondered to himself. Knowledge of the future was powerful indeed, he was actually quite curious to see how she would employ this clairvoyance skill of hers in the field.

Of course, when she leaned forward he had to take another look at her, though his face remained completely composed. If a reaction was what she was looking for, or perhaps to distract him somehow, she was going to be disappointed. Good looking as she might be, he wasn't quite so easily swayed by a pair of breasts and a good body. "Hmmm, questioning the locals might be a good idea. We could do with that sort of information, after all. The biggest question is, what should we do with Foxfeet?"

He grinned, shaking his head to himself. She hadn't quite managed to enrapture him with her admittedly impressive bust, but he couldn't quite help but feel there was a slight opportunity with this. "Sure, we could kill him or put him out of business, but where is the fun in that?" His fingers delved into a pocket in his cloak, where they remained casually. "What say you to some, how should I put this, forced compliance from our merchant thief friend? We hold this over his head, hold his life in our hands and suddenly, we have a potential source of both information and income."

An almost cruel looking smirk stretched over his lips, though it probably appeared at least somewhat dashing to anybody that wasn't repulsed by his mindset. Why dispose of something that could still be useful. "Either way, his actual, legitimate business is over and instead, he works for us. Sounds nice, am I right?"

@Eryl Justice

 

The Path is Decided

Eryl was fairly certain she had this Karr figured out. She had met his type before. Selfish, self-centered. Some would say she was even like him. She would adamantly protest, but in the end they were both looking out for number one first, and everyone else could go to hell.


“No one has ever beat me in the long game,” Eryl said raising a single eyebrow. “It sounds to me a lot like empty promises.”


She didn’t know or care if what she saw was set in stone. Things usually only happened the way she saw them going. There were exceptions, or minor details that would change but normally, things went the way she saw them going.


“Its not an exact science, no,” Eryl said with a wave of her hand. She shifted her weight to the other elbow, leaning on it as she gestured, “I get glimpses, sometimes just flashes or images. It helps give me the edge in combat sometimes, or knowing to when to get out of situations. I can sometimes give others that little nudge too, it helps for placing blows in just the right place at just the right time. Sometimes its just enough to tip the scales”


Karr proposed a suggestion for keeping Foxfeet alive. Building a network in this game for information would be helpful. She didn’t know if Foxfeet would exactly be interested in being milked by both of them for info in the future, or if the game system would allow it. Sometimes quests were only completed when the boss died. But it was worth a shot. But staying one step ahead of the other players in the game could always be beneficial. There were few things more annoying than getting beaten out by a player who had just a little bit more info.


“It could work,” she conceded, “If the quest allows it, that would be helpful. Let’s get started then.”


Eryl rose to her feet, the wooden chair scrapped against the hard flooring with a grating sound. The bartender saw her rise and gave his preprogrammed cheerful nod and smile. She didn’t see a need to say anything more here, it was time for them to get things in motion. Out the front door she walked onto the dirt path that led to this small tavern. She turned left down the dirt path and began walking it towards the nearest village.


“So what will you do with the gold when we are done?” she asked as they moved down the path.

 

"Nobody? Maybe you just haven't had the right kind of company before now, eh?" Karr couldn't help but chuckle as the woman returned fire in her own way, glad that he had a partner that could actually talk the talk. Most people said that talk was inferior to action, but when you could solve a situation with both, why not choose the one that required the least amount of effort? After all, energy that you saved by taking the easy way out of one situation was energy that you could use later if you really needed it. That sort of mentality seemed to go even further in this game, with the way that every action seemed to have some sort of energy cost and that their energy was finite until they had a chance to rest. If he could avoid a fight or end one quickly, why not?

The fact that her ability to see the future wasn't an exact science was slightly irritating, though he supposed that it would make things just a little too easy if the woman had such clairvoyance that the future was known to her in all of its detail. "Ah, I suppose that was too much to hope for. Still, maybe with practice you'll start seeing more." She probably would. He could only improve his work with his dagger and his illusions, after all.

And hey, even bigger plus that had arisen, the woman seemed genuinely all for the idea of keeping Foxfeet alive to benefit them and work for them instead of just gutting him and losing a potentially useful resource. Finally, somebody else with just a little bit of foresight! He could definitely respect this Eryl person and how similar she seemed to be to his own outstanding personality.

As she stood, he sighed and stood with her, stretching and listening to the satisfying popping sounds that his joints made. He'd been sat there for way too long, after all. It was a pretty big miracle that he wasn't drunk. Waving a hand lazily without even turning to look at the barkeeper, he followed Eryl out of the building. "Why d'ya want to know about what I'll use the money for?" He grinned, brushing one of his bangs back slightly as he raised his eyebrow at her. "Hoping I'll take you out for the evening? I'll admit, it's a tempting thought."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes. Did she really have to look into his personal business already? "If you must know, I'm planning on making what I suppose you could call a long term investment." Meaning he hadn't exactly planned it out yet, but he'd figure it out. Money was always useful to have though. "I have pretty big plans for the future after all." As soon as he figured out how he'd put them into action, at least.

@Eryl Justice

 

Pressing her advantages

Eryl smirked at his comment. She tilted her head to the side slightly, amused, "Maybe I haven't had the right crowd, its too soon to tell if I have yet or not."

He said that maybe with some practice she would get to see more. Eryl nodded. She intended to, that was part of what this mission was about. With every mission she went on, the redhead got more astute at her gifting. She was growing in her skills, even if it was one bit at a time. It was cumulative work.

"I suppose that brings us back to the long game then, now doesn't it?" she intoned softly. "I have found that the best practice happens on the battlefield, or in tense situations like what we are walking into, I am sure."

Eryl couldn't keep from rolling her eyes as he asked if she was hoping he would take her out. But there was a bigger game to play, and she wasn't about to let that pass by. Every being could be useful if given the right chance. Every being had the ability to push her further along.

"I doubt you could afford my tastes," she said wryly, "But, say you could, and that is a big if, where would you take me?"

She turned down the side of the path, ahead she could see the small town they were going towards. It was on the hill top, surrounded by the woodland. There was a slight clearing around the elf-made cabins, that made the few houses stand out even further than they already did with the height. As they began to move up the gradual incline towards the settlement, she arched an eyebrow, "Oh? An investment?"

@Karr Hawkesridge

 

"How does a person ever know if they've found the right crowd? Maybe the right crowd doesn't exist at all?" He grinned, shoving his hands in the pockets of his cloak casually. He really had nothing to fear in a world like this, after all. There was nothing that could really hurt him. "Maybe you just have to create the right crowd, one way or another?" He was always a big fan of twisting people and their ideals to suit his wants and needs. After all, if a person could be useful, wasn't it a kind and generous action to let them be as useful as they possibly could be?

Well, then again that was just him trying to sugarcoat his ideas and ideals, so to speak. In truth, he really didn't care if people thought him as a horrible person or an disgusting villain. All that mattered in the end were the results he could possibly gain from something.

"The best practice is any practice at all, personally. I'd rather fight a person that has practices a million things once than a person that has practices one thing millions of times." He grinned a cocky grin, shrugging to himself. "However neither of those people would defeat me. I'd much prefer to avoid combat and bloodshed where possible, honestly. Don't you agree that peaceful solutions are just so much more rewarding?"

He wasn't a pacifist, by any means of the word. Heck, he was probably as far away from being a pacifist as possible, but having to actually put in the effort to face a person in battle was just a hassle.

As for not being able to afford her tastes, he chuckled and huffed out a breath he'd been taking, shaking his head. "Honey, there aren't any tastes out there I can't afford. I know I wouldn't take you anywhere nearby here though. This place is such a washout." It was nothing like some of the larger, more luxurious cities in this world, that was for sure. "If you ever want to cash in, you know my username. I'll show you a good time."

Flirting with his current partner aside, the fact that she'd shown even a passing interest in his mention of an investment proved how curious of a person she was. "Interested in the investment, are we? Quite the inquisitive one, I'm impressed." He smirked. "Tell you what, if you prove to be a good partner, I could see myself cutting you in on the deal. Good allies are so difficult to come by these days, after all..."

@Eryl Justice

 

Higher hopes and the village

Eryl nodded. She supposed she could see herself believing that. You had to make the world you wanted to be a part of, and that included allies. Good allies and good tools didn’t just fall in your hands, you had to seize them. Just like gold or anything else in this game.


“That makes sense,” Eryl agreed with a nod. “Nothing good is given to you. If its good and that easy to have in a world like this, then its already taken by someone else.”


Eryl arched an eyebrows at his statement. “Then how do you ever plan on getting any better?” her dark brown eyes glanced at him with a hinting undertone, “If you always go for amateurs its hard for you to ever get better.” She shrugged, “Sometimes I do prefer a more peaceful solution, but sometimes the more peaceful solution isn’t the most equitable. If peace is the greatest way to gain what I want, then yes. But,” she poised her finger up in protest, “There is a lot to be said for the profit of war.”


With the looting, the land gained, and the Mastery Points gained from a good fight, you could get a lot. She had learned that first hand from fighting against the Bandit King. But, of course, there was a greater way. The real trick was to gain the profits of war without the ease and lack of exertion from peaceful efforts. That was where the real skill came in.


“If I had a coin for every time I heard those promises, I would have every damn piece in this game,” Eryl said, not masking how unimpressed she was at his answer. Eryl had been gaming in VR for a long time. Guys tended to make a lot of those same promises of power, money, and the ability to show a “good time” that typically ended up with second rate experiences and lame attempts to bang. Eryl shook her head, her crimson hair fluttering slightly at the action, “Honestly, Karr, I had higher hopes for you than that.”


They were hard to come by. She supposed the only way to tell if they would end up being good allies for each other was with time.


They came at last into the clearing that was around the village. The cottages were rather quaint, almost perfect with the thatch roofs, ruddy wood siding and white stucco. The villager NPCs were all but perfect in their earthy brown and tan tunics, trousers, and dresses. Everyone looked cheerful, Eryl squinted, with her own discernment taking the forefront as her eyes swept over them all.


“They are too happy,” she said at last, “Too cheerful, we have to find the weak link. They will show us where the key to Foxfeet’s hiding spot is,” she placed her hand on the sword at her side, furrowing her brows further, “he probably has at least one of his enforcers here too, making sure they keep their traps shut.”