Midsummer Feast

“I must know if you willingly were tricking me, Cutie. I couldn’t find the one who gave you that quest, and none other either. So can you tell me what’s going on?” Opiom burst out complaining as soon Merie wrote in the party chat. “I didn’t try to trick you, or anything like that, Opiom. And I honestly don’t know what’s going on.” Merie could honestly not say anything about what had gone wrong. “I did also search for the quest Dear talked about, and I found the one giving out the quest. But he didn’t give me the question, and when I asked him straight about the message, so did he only say that a young girl already had delivered it to him. So I guess there are quests only one player can do.” Anlie was probably right, if she really had found the right guy. “Maybe they have set a limit on some new quests since they thought the reward was too strong?” It was honestly the only thing Merie could think of, and she couldn’t deny herself that it sounded logical.

“I get a feeling that I’m late to the party. But may I ask what I missed last night?” Lart had really missed more than he could think. The three girls rapidly filled him up with what they’d found out, which of he only could laugh at that he hadn’t the same luck as Merie and Adu. “And if you’ve missed it, so is Adu the new female, savage, beast from the bushes.” Couldn’t Opiom just give it up? “And how much drugs and booze do you’ve to take to fuck up your brain that much, Opiom?” Lart didn’t seem very impressed by Opiom either, but as it turned out, so wasn’t it because of how she expressed herself, but because she explained who Adu was.

“I haven’t read anything new on the internet worth sharing, so I’ll head out again and see what I can find this round.” As their conversation didn’t seem to lead anywhere, so couldn’t she see any meaning remaining there. Closing the chat and heading out into the forest, not for hunting but to drink her potion in peace. She’d read that it was impossible for other players to drink the potion, or even trade it, but there seemed to be a new kind of game created last day. Slaughtering those drinking Ability- and Skill-potions, which by unknown reasons were sanctioned by both the developers and the players. And because of that, so was there no way she wanted to be seen drinking it.

Bomb-craft, Berserk, Agility++, Though skin+, Potion-craft, Poison-tree, Magic-blend. It was only a few on the list which Merie found interesting, not all for her, but also for the other in the group. In her case so was it Bomb-craft and Agility++ that she found interesting. And thinking about it, so maybe Bomb-craft would be best as she already was quite fast. And if she was lucky, so would it maybe also turn out that she could create a poisonous effect, or any other status effect, on the bombs. She could have used the option to level her Potion-craft, but at the same time so could she do that on her own too, even if it took slightly longer. Only a couple of seconds of thinking was enough for her, she would be able to create bombs. And when, or if, she found another Ability-potion so would she use that to get Agility++. Good speed wasn’t anything she could’ve too much of.

Thinking of creating things, Merie maybe should take a while, later on, to see if she could find Pois, and perhaps another beautiful area. Or… Maybe it was better to get a higher crafting level first. If Pois would be able to teach her something new, so would it be necessary with a higher level? Which maybe could be easier to do now as she also could do bombs during the same time. And only because she could, opening the menu and party chat, “I just got Bomb-craft and will start training it as soon as we feel we’re done with the update.” Merie wouldn’t let her curiosity take over until that, or when it was time to fall into the usual routines with school and all. “How many bombs does it take to blow up a bunch of newbies?” “It depends on. In an ambush, a couple. At the bridge, maybe a few.” Anlie was honest in answering Opiom’s question. Honestly, both a dumb question and a dumb answer, but it felt at home in this party. “It’ll probably take a while before I can craft good bombs, and I might need some help gathering material for it.” “Nice, Merie. I picked the same ability, and am willing to welcome you to my tribe, so we can blow away those daring to trespass into our land.” Adu had the same skill? It wasn’t too bad, but neither so was it wonderful. It might’ve been better if they would taken two different skills.

“I did just remember to check the placeholder we got from that horrible Goblin, but it’s just a placeholder, so we might need to hold on to it for a while longer.” Good thing Lart checked it, because Merie had forgotten it and was sure the others also had forgotten about it. “Good to know, but it means we’ve to wait at least until the next update before we know what it does. But during that time so do I think we should let our cute little bloodhound and the beast search out another target like that. Which can be fun to kill.” It was fun to hear Opiom saying that, as the fucking asshole fled and left the others to take down that boss. “It might go easier this time if we let our little, wild, girl get some real training first. And maybe a couple of hunts under the belt. So maybe we don’t have to send our Mage running.” Why did Lart make it sound as if it’d been their fault that Opiom ran? They’d fought as best as they could, but it hadn’t made any difference. “I think we should search more, and maybe talk less. Ain’t you agreeing, Cutie?” It was impressive how rapidly Opiom could drop something when it wasn’t going her way. But she wasn’t wrong when it came to the fact they should spend some more time searching through the game, instead of chatting away. Even though it sometimes might be more fun than the game itself.

As she left the chat again, she decided to go to the largest visits in the NPC-led countries, hoping she could be just as lucky there as in those villages. She was highly surprised of how many there were in the city, she visited first, almost giving her no place to move. Even less any chances to turn, instead more or less forcing her to follow the flow. And only by judging the situation from those circumstances, so didn’t she think she would be able to find something new in the city. At least nothing like she’d found the last day, those kinds of things only one could do. But what could she expect after it’d become common knowledge?

Even when Merie tried to reach the less popular areas, so didn’t the masses decrease. Guessing that many idiots had found out there might be a larger chance of getting that kind of quest from the less popular areas, which eliminated all her chances of getting those quests herself. But she guessed that it wasn’t anything she could do about that, and might only need to suffer it through and try to get her ass out of there as soon as she could.

Following the herd and trying to direct her way back to the teleporters, the world turned blinding white. Followed by a tingling feeling in her whole body, before the view turned pitch black. Only showing the text that she would be respawned in about a minute.

Merie didn’t know what had happened, but she could take a wild guess. And her guess was that one or more PKs had got their hand on Bomb-craft, which she simply had happened to get caught in. But she would surely hear more about it as soon she got revived. But before that, she opened the menu and wrote a message to the party, “I think someone blew up quite a few players in the city. Was that what you’d in mind with the idea, Opiom?” Merie didn’t think so, but they could never know when it came to someone like Opiom. Still, so wasn’t it as if Merie could say that she was much better when she got in that kind of mood. “I don’t know what Opiom been thinking. But it was “Bloody Cream” who bombed a couple of places in the city.” Adu was the first one to answer, and since Merie didn’t think Adu had contacts with any PK-guilds, so could she guess the information already was spreading. “I don’t do shit where NPCs can get injured. But, yes, I could’ve done it otherwise.” Opiom didn’t even deny that she could’ve come up with something like this, even though she would need other circumstances. “Just so I know, guys. Do we go out and hunt players like this? Are we supporting them, or are we just letting it be?” Adu’s question was somehow sounding stupid, but at the same time was it a good one. “If someone supports them, they keep their head low. We don’t want too much attention, and everyone does what they want.” “We do as we want and let the others do the same.” Merie was rapidly followed by Opiom, both saying more or less the same thing. Which was a good thing since it showed that they were standing at the same point. “The only “rule” we’ve is to not kill NPCs, but we would also like it if you don’t bring the rest of the party down.” Anlie was also joining the talk, making it seem as if she hadn’t explained the rule they’d before she let Adu join.

“LET’S SET OUT AND KILL THOSE ASSHOLES!” “WE’VE TO FIND AND SLAUGHTER THEM!” “WHY ARE THERE FUCKED UP PLAYERS IN OUR GAME?!” “WE SHOULD FORCE THE DEVELOPERS TO FORBID PK!”

Scream and cries overwhelmed Merie when she finally was revived. Cries about how wrong PK was, in the same breath as they promised to slaughter those assholes. Not that Merie couldn’t deny that she’d a slight wish to injure them for what they did, but in her case so was it only because she’d lost some EXP in the process. Otherwise so was she okay with their deed, as it was just along with what the developers wish d the game to be. But it wouldn’t mean that she would remain there and listen to their bullshit, she’d far better things to do. Turning around to walk into the teleport, “THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT MIGHT HAVE BEEN FROM THE GROUP. THERE COULD’VE BEEN SUICIDE BOMBERS WALKING ALONGSIDE US!” Merie heard their idea loud and clear and could see it be like that. But if they would try to stop her from leaving, so could they just drop dead and die. She wouldn’t have any of that.

Merie took her chance to escape when they discussed the possibility of it being like that, letting her and many others pass through. Maybe even the culprit, if he or she was thinking as Merie and wanted to escape before anything got out of hand.

–

Merie was surrounded by mountains and snow. She had decided to leave for a slightly smaller area to search for new things. And even though some others might’ve thought the same thing, so was it still less than in the big city. So she could easily walk on her own, without being forced to follow a possible flow. And it felt honestly good. With great hesitation, so did she open her menu and click on equipment. She was sure that if she would find a quest in the town, so would she need to leave the town, which would mean that she’d to equipe that horrid dress Opiom had bought her. Who h was too cute for someone like her, and she was sure about just that. But the dress still does its purpose, and she couldn’t deny that she was slightly glad to have got a gift from someone. So it wasn’t as if she would buy a new one, maybe something more in line with the type Anlie had used.

“Fuck her…” Equipping the dress while cursing Opiom. Knowing that the pain would come sooner or later, so she could as well take the bull by the horn already. After she equipped it and took a calming breath, so did she take a look around to see where she could head. Deciding on the poorer areas, because why not? And sharpening her ears and eyes, hoping to catch up with something interesting, just like the last time. Talk about aching backs, the weather, food and work. Nothing sounded interesting enough to dig deeper into, but she was still sure there was something. Beggars were sitting by the street, looking sad and desperate. Those beggars were new, they hadn’t been there before the update, and they honestly didn’t even need to be there, as they only gave the place a bitter tone.