Seek out the light
1458 Words
Night time on Ashenfort lasted only for 5 hours, which was some consolation considering how inhospitable this place was. The short window afforded them just enough time to get some rest and be alone with their thoughts.
When they woke up the following day, to the steady beeping of their Z-bands, the misty barrier around the rocks disappeared, giving them a view of the blackened landscape. It was still dark outside, as most of the sunlight was absorbed by the yellow dust clouds in the sky.
Zach stretched himself out and checked to see if all his gear was still there. Madeline and Isabella were swapping inventory items, preparing for the journey ahead.
The strange red crystal still bothered Zach. It wasn’t glowing like before, but the magic energy was still prominent. Since Zach was a magic caster, he felt even more curious about it. And so he decided to check out the crystal from up close.
As he leaned closer to analyse the crystal’s surface, he noticed there was something trapped within. It was small and round, almost like a pearl. Unable to make out what exactly it was, and why it was just left there in the middle of nowhere, he decided to search the digital manual.
The search for the words, ‘Eye of Azareth’ returned no result, so he tried searching for red crystals and magic pearls. Yet again, the entry was void. This made it quite clear that this wasn’t a part of the original game and had recently been introduced by Gilbert. What bothered him was why Gilbert would place a random safe zone on this island and then make all the effort to conceal it. It was neither a shrine, nor a savepoint, and seemed to serve no other purpose.
“Greetings, adventurers,” a hoarse, low-pitched voice called out.
Zach and Madeline immediately reached for their weapons and turned around. Standing just outside the rock cluster, was a bony figure robed in red, with a hood drawn over his face. The sleeves of his dress were loose and long, covering even his fingers. They could tell it was an old man only by its voice.
“And just who are you?” Zach questioned, his suspicious eyes staring down the hooded figure from head to toe.
“I am an old traveller, seeking the light,” the stranger replied, his voice wheezy and incoherent. Almost as if he was trying to stop himself from coughing.
“I didn’t know humans lived here. Are you a part of a cult?” Madeline asked.
“I am a lost traveller. One who seeks the light which guides us all.”
“What exactly is it that you want?”
“To go home to my people. But for that I need your help.”
“So, you’re not from here. Are you from Solaris?” Zach asked.
The old man nodded, “Yes, I am from Solaris. And I need your help to get back to my village.”
“So, it’s basically a damn escort quest. How funny,” Zach scoffed. “We can’t help you. There is a travel ban...not that you would understand anyway. But yeah, you’re on your own. Request denied.”
“Don’t be too hasty, traveller. I know you wish to bring back your lost friend.”
Zach and Madeline were both stunned by this man’s reply. There was no way a random NPC could know that Aaron had been killed. The old man seemed to possess way too much knowledge to be a simple bot.
“How do you know about our friend? And who the f**k sent you here?” Zach tore into him.
The old man remained as calm as before and pointed towards a gray volcano in the distance. “There you shall find the light which we both seek. Take it and the island will obey your will.”
“I asked you a question. Don’t f*****g pretend like you didn’t hear it!”
“Help me find my way back home and you will help your friend. Master the land of fire and smoke and you will regain what you lost.”
Before Zach or Madeline could extract any more information from him, the old man stepped through a portal and disappeared.
[*New side quest received: Seek out the light.*]
[*Quest reward: Unknown*]
“What the hell was that?” Zach asked, turning to Madeline.
“Whoever he was, he knew about Aaron or at least pretended like he did.”
“How is that possible? How does an NPC we’ve never met before know that we lost Aaron?”
“He didn’t mention Aaron’s name. Maybe he’s just programmed to say those lines.”
“This doesn’t seem like a co-incidence. He specifically spoke to me about my ‘lost friend.’ He knows about us. I think he’s been watching us all this time.”
“That’s possible. He did seem to have mastery over teleportation magic.”
“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that an NPC is watching over us and trying to bargain with us about our lost friend? This wasn’t pre-programmed. Aaron wasn’t supposed to die. He is a human player. The game’s coding doesn’t affect him. He only died because I used the Pelting Rain skill. This means the old wizard dude just created a new dialogue to interact with us. And he sure knew it would convince us to accept his quest.”
“You know that’s not possible. NPCs just have artificial intelligence.”
“Then how do you explain what he just said?” Zach asked, exasperated. “This NPC is different. It seems like he had taught himself how to bargain with humans.”
“So, you’re saying that it learned all this on its own?” Madeline raised her eyebrows questioningly and gave him a sceptical stare. “You’re starting to sound like Aaron now.”
“Listen, I know it shouldn’t be theoretically possible, but there was something very odd about this NPC. It wasn’t normal.”
“It doesn’t matter. We should forget about this and focus on finding a save point.”
“I get it now,” Zach said, with a twisted grin. “Gilbert sent this f*****g wizard to us. He is the only other person who knows what happened to Aaron. He wants us to complete this quest. And only then will he allow us to travel back to Solaris and access the save point.”
“You don’t know that. We can’t trust a random wizard NPC who just appeared out of nowhere.”
“Then what the hell do you want me to do?” Zach cried out in desperation. “I don’t know anything about this island and there are no settlements marked on the map. We have to complete this quest if we want to save Aaron.”
Madeline thought about all the possibilities in her head and several things still didn’t make sense. The quest was vague and the only hint was its location. After a good deal of thinking, she opened the map on her Z-band and zoomed in on it to see the quest marker. It was displayed directly on top of the gray volcano. The quest tab didn’t help much either, since it only displayed the quest name and no additional details. Since no main quests were available and there were no Zone Guardians marked on the map, this side quest was the lead they had.
“We should prepare before moving out. Stock up on heat resistance potions and cooling salves,” Madeline spoke out her instructions loud and clear, assuming the position of party leader, in Aaron’s absence. She distributed her extra skill points to modify a couple of skills and then got back to discussing the strategy.
“Listen up everyone, this island is not like Solaris and we are one team member short. We have to be very careful about the fights we pick and be ready to change tactics at a moment’s notice. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s clear that we will be encountering fire-wielding enemies here.” She looked at Zach and continued, “You are the only one who has a clear advantage against fire-based enemies. We need you to be the main damage dealer here. Isabella will play tank and support you, and I will make sure nothing gets too close to interrupt your skill casts.”
“Sounds good to me,” Zach responded.
“Alright then, we will move out in 10 minutes. Double check your inventory and let me know if you need any potions. You are our main attacker now.”
- Writer
