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"Uh... yeah... the inn. Right. I think I passed it on the way from the carpenter's store. We can go together! You up for it?" The male Veni Yan said. Apollo nodded. "It... would be a pleasure." He said, adjusting the crate he carried as he walked behind the other player. He assumed that the female player was following them as well. "May I, perhaps know your names?" He asked both of them as they strolled along the path through the crowds.
"My name's Sar- I mean...Elizea." The female player responded, correcting herself. She seemed nice enough, and very enthusiastic if her way of speaking said anything. The male player ahead of them spoke up. "Nice name! I am Sarecyn FurLance. But you can call me Lance..." He said, faking a rich accent. Apollo smiled a bit in amusement; he seemed like a fun-loving fellow. "My name is Apollo Winter. you may call me... Whatever you wish. I don't really mind all that much." He said. He had attempted to think of a good nickname, but gave up halfway through. It wasn't a problem however, because he was fine with getting nicknamed by the people he met online. It was a way of detaching himself from his real life persona. Besides, he was already taking a liking to these people.
Eventually, they reached a building with a sign hanging in front. Lance pointed at it. "There it is, just up ahead. That's the inn." He said, approaching the building. They stopped at the front door. "Your help's appreciated, Lance." Apollo said with a smile. He then turned to Elizea, adjusting the crate in his hands again. "I suppose we should go in to turn in the quest, hm?" He asked. Turning back to Lance, he spoke. "Would you like to join us? If this quest gives any reward money, I'll gladly buy you something as a token of thanks."
"Yeah, thanks a bunch! I would chip in for something too, it's great to find a nice guy such as yourself! If either of you know how the friend system works...if there is one...we could add each other!". Elizea said cheerfully. "I don't really need any payment. But that 'friend-ing' idea sounds great! It would be awesome to start off the game with a few good pals... Heh... virtual reality is harder than it seems... maybe you can find it," Lance said
Apollo would tinker with his HUD, if his hands weren't still occupied with the box he was carrying. He was about to say it politely, when Lance spoke up. "Oh let me get the door... duh!" He said. Apollo smiled, glad to see that he had noticed their dilemma. After Lance opened the door for them, they entered the Inn.
Apollo immediately went for the human at the reception desk. "Excuse me madam, we're here to make a couple of deliveries." He said, showing the crate he carried. The woman at the desk nodded. "Thank you, young ones. Just leave them right here behind the counter." She said. He and Elizea went around back to deposit their crates. Immediately, a [QUEST COMPLETE] notification popped up on their HUDs
"It's a three-part quest huh?" Apollo thought. The woman at the reception desk spoke again. "I don't have much in the way of payment, but you seem new around here. So I'll put in a good word for you two. And I suppose I can give you some information." She said. "What sort of information?" Apollo asked. "Well, do either of you know about each other's races ?" The woman asked. Apollo thought, and decided that all he knew of the other 2 races were what the character selection said.
"You see, the three races that live around here are Human, Veni Yan, and Nobelle. Humans are people like me. We have some fairly modern technology, and he can tap into our inner powers known as 'Ki' energy. We've got the largest population out of the three. The second race is Veni Yan, like this young lady." She said, gesturing at Elizea. "Veni Yan are those who are most attuned to the natural and spiritual energy around them. They don't care much for technology and prefer using elemental magic for their tasks. The third race are the Nobelle, like this little man here." She said, now gesturing at Apollo. "Nobelles are short and can't use any magic like us. So they make up for it by using advanced technology. They don't use Mana or Ki, and rely on their gadgets and gizmos to get jobs done." She explained.
Another notification appeared on their screens:
"That was fast..." Apollo thought. The Innkeeper clasped her hands together. "Now, if you two aren't busy. I need something else taken care of. Don't worry, you'll have an actual reward this time." she sad with a chuckle. "You see, the Inn could use some fresh nuts for the festival, so I need some hunters to go out and collect nuts from nearby squirrels." She said. "It wouldn't be a problem... if we had some weapons..." Apollo replied, scratching the back of his head. The Innkeeper chuckled. "Of course. Here, I have a few things you two can use." She said. The woman turned around and opened a cabinet containing a diverse assortment of items. She picked handfuls of stuff and laid them out on the desk. "I got these as tips from adventurers way back when. Take as much as you want. Once you're done with the squirrels, I'll let you take one of them as a reward." She said.
For Apollo, he had the following selection of weapons:
Refurbished Gauntlets: An antique pair of Augmentor gauntlets once used by Nobelle Close-combat specialists. Its glory days are long gone.
Hand-Cannon: A home-made cannon. Created as a smaller, functional replica of weapons used by artillerymen. Can kill, but is impractical as an actual weapon.
Tattered Gloves: An old pair of gloves that were said to be owned by a renowned Alchemist. It still does the job, but not as powerfully as before.
Picking up the weapons, Apollo transferred them to his inventory (which was basically his backpack of items) and equipment slots. He put the gauntlets on his hands, strapped the cannon to his back, and had the gloves take up inventory space in his bag. He thought that he must've looked quite silly, being a small man carrying weapons that seemed a tad too big for him.
After the items were taken care of, he turned to Elizea. She was managing her items as well. "Since we're doing the same mission anyway, I suppose we can hunt together. Unless of course, you'd rather go alone." He said. True, she was nice. But he thought that maybe she wanted some privacy as well. That was counter-productive in an MMO, but you never know when it came to people online.
"Sure! Two sets of hands will make things go by even quicker. Speaking of which, let's get going. Who knows how many people are out there, and the respawn timers for this game might be different." She said as she went for the door. Apollo followed him, and immediately noticed something strange.
"Wait! Lance is gone." He said, looking around. The male Veni Yan was nowhere to be seen. Apollo thought it to be odd, but decided that maybe Lance had things to take care of as well. After thinking, he spoke "No point in looking for him. There's no way we'll find him now. I suppose we can just do this..." He said as he began tinkering with his HUD. After messing around on the menus for a little while, he managed to find the Friends List. "Aha! Here we go..." He thought as he typed a name to the "Add Friend" box. "Sa-re-cyn... Fur-lance" He thought as he typed it in. He then clicked the confirm button, and a notification appeared, saying the request was sent.
"We'll keep in touch with him through the friend system." He said as he turned to Elizea. "Now, we best start moving. Like you said, there could be hundreds of players already there." He said as he started jogging towards the fields. With Elizea being bigger than him, she would have no trouble keeping up, and even outrunning him.
