Kura

Mulling over his thoughts, Kura thought further into what DAY said, He didn't want to accidentally spill another secret, so he chose the most safest option, and that was DAY's demeanor when talking about NIGHT.

"Well, when she was describing you, she was oddly sensual about the whole thing. She licked her lips before starting, then continued on with a proud smirk as she listed off your features. Apparently your eyes are like crystals to her or something like that. Honestly it felt like she was bragging, you have a nice partner."

He sighed as he continued to sort his thoughts out into words. This whole entire thing was not he had in mind when wanted to go mountain climbing today. But he still wanted to make it right for accidentally spilling a secret to someone, even if that someone was already involved.

"That's the strange thing though, when she was describing you, she didn't necessarily say she was talking about her partner, which is you. Instead she was talking about a made up Gemini NPC, which doesn't make sense considering that she was clearly describing you're traits. Unless you are a Gemini or something, but that would contradict her final words of there being no Gemini on floor one."

After that entire spiel about DAY's description of night, he then finally respond to the other thing with a raised eyebrow.

"I not referring to the other day when I knocked, I was talking about five seconds ago when I asked about the NPC over there."

The old man NPC, bless him, gave the two little wave when Kura mentioned him.

"And I still don't understand why you're so intent on reaffirming that no NPC lives in your home. I never said anything about an NPC living with you when I visited, I just asked if you saw a blonde quest NPC."

Being put down rather gently for being almost murdered, and Kura acting fairly calm for a man that was just threatened by someone who could absolutely eviscerate him, he would continue sipping at his canteen as he answered once more.

"It was in front of an ice cream stand, she accosted me while I was eating my own scoop and after she bought her own. 

Furrowing his brow, he would recall the events from the other day. Even to someone as socially inept as Kura, there was something off about to him about the interaction. Thinking a little harder, he would mull over the whole entire conversation with DAY.

"If I think back on it, it was a little strange. She came out of nowhere, told me to tell why I thought the girl who I'm fairly certain is her was special, requested for me to tell her partner about said reasons, and then warned me to stay away from a girl that has the same description as you. There was also a philosophical talk near the end about my view points about trusting others. Oddly enough, I don't even know her name."

He forewent mentioning the Gemini part of the conversation, since DAY said that there was no such NPC's on floor 1, so it didn't feel relevant. Quietly, he also didn't particular believe it as he recalled the NPC from his own quest, "The Gemini". Though he pushed those heavy thoughts aside as he recalled something of light importance.

"I asked about NPC's earlier, didn't I?" 

On the sidelines, the NPC simply sighed.

He thought the NPC from "The Gemini" was fast, as well as the Wasp Queens" from floor 2. But they paled in comparison to a max leveled player. Feeling the hand on his collar and seeing angry player, he would simply blink as he listened off to her questions, and began answering them in a straight forward manner.

"Yeah, that was me."

When NIGHT asked about who he spilled this information too, there was only one girl that came in mind. Going through his thoughts, he summoned up the image of DAY inside of his head and began listing her features.

"There was only one person, someone walked up to me while I was eating ice cream. She had light blue eyes and blond hair kept up in a pony tail. She also wore a white cloak and she ate vanilla ice cream. I think it was also the same girl in your house..."

After describing the not so mysterious girl who he spilled the beans too, Kura would actually uncharacteristically grimace.

"I didn't know this was a secret. Now that I do, I will avoid speaking to anyone about it. My apologies about the girl."

Kura looked remarkably solemn for someone being threatened.

Heaving his whole body up, Kura would sigh as he spotted NIGHT squatting menacingly near the quest NPC. Not because of the death glare, but because he lost a race only he knowingly participated in. He shrugged it off soon after though, all he had to do was race her to the bottom after this. Though before he challenged her to another race, he would glance at the old man NPC nearby with a bit of confusion. Looking back at NIGHT, he asked with a curious tone.

"Hello again. Hey, do you know what that NPC is for?"

Feeling a bit tired, he would summon up a water bottle and begin to sip at it. He got a new one after his last one had been gifted to another, for reasons he still couldn't comprehend. Regardless, the cool water felt good on the back of his throat as he awaited NIGHT's response, not comprehending that NIGHT both had a murderous look on her face, and he was near a ledge that led to a fatal drop.

Hefting himself up, Kura heard the rapid footfalls of someone else moving away from him. After securing himself against the rock face, he looked to the side and saw the same player he greeted earlier. While it made sense that she would be nearby, from how he saw her in town, it was strange to Kura how he didn't see her earlier. Theories of why were soon overshadowed by one apparent fact to Kura.

NIGHT was racing him to the top.

Kura wasn't exactly the most competitive of person, but he didn't mind having a time limit for a goal. Rather, it simply made him work faster, especially when that time limit is as nebulous as finishing before someone else. His slow and steady progress was ramped up to a reckless pace, not even bothering to secure himself before he moved onto the next climbing section.

There were a few risky moments where a loose rock made him almost lose his footing, but through sheer force he wrenched himself almost falling off. Near death experiences aside, he was eventually able to shove himself up about 3/4ths of the mountain. While Kura did spot the quest NPC, his eyes were dead set on see whether or not NIGHT beat him or not.

(Racing)

Kura took another sip of his drink as he continued out of Urbus. Idly, he thought about the player he just passed by. She was the person who that other blonde warned him about, and he quietly mused about why. He knew that they were obviously close to one another from how he saw one enter the other's home, so it didn't make any particular sense to him why she was trying to ward him off, not realizing that she was lying to make him keep his distance from NIGHT for her own sake.

Still remaining oblivious to the fact that one of the subjects of his thoughts was trailing behind him, after awhile Kura would soon reached a sheer face of the mountain. With a smile, went through his inventory for a few moments. Then suddenly, climbing equipment dropped at his feet.

A lot of quests tended to allow for ease of player interaction, the "Let There Be Light" quest line showed the cave where Koko was located in, the "Challenge of Olympus" had a guard escort you to the palace. While Kura didn't exactly hate being railroaded, it did make him miss the thrill of overcoming a challenge.

Slamming his climbing pickaxe into the sheer face of the mountain, he pulled himself up higher and higher to the top of the mountain. He was going to do this in the most backwards and frustrating way he could.

In other words, he was going to do it his way.

(Ascending a Mountain: 2/3)

Kura himself had no such thoughts about why it is easier to interact with a inanimate screen rather than fellow human beings face to face, no, he was still searching for that "Demonic Shard". And then suddenly, he heard whispering from the direction that the compass was pointing towards.

Raising an eyebrow, he slowly got closer to the source of the noise with curiosity. As he drew closer, the sound of faint crying within the chorus of whispers was picked up by Kura. Soon, the volume grew defeaning as the compass in hand spun wildly with enough force to physically vibrate in his hands. 

Realizing that he was right on top of his quest objective, Kura kneeled and brushed away the foliage underneath him to reveal a pitch black crystal with blood seemingly dripping from it's crevices.. As soon as he unveiled it, the voices suddenly went quiet, leaving an eerie silence. However, as soon as Kura reached down and grabbed the crystal, a low, guttural voice whispered in the back of his mind.

"F̴̢̆̏r̴̰̔e̸͓̝͗e̷͈̊ ̵̲͝m̵̪̬̔ë̸͙̻́"

"No."

Kura then promptly put the creepy gem in his inventory and began to make his way back to Giovanni.

(Searching for Material, +1 Demonic Shard)

Eventually, he came to a compromise with himself, saying that he could have the best of both worlds by remaining friends with the NPC's along the way so long as he continued talking to the other folk. Strangely enough, as bad as their first interaction was, Giovanni and Kura shared many similarities, a fact that Giovanni herself would shudder at.

That said, Kura had been getting wrapped up with more players as of late. There was the adventure with Blueberry and Nian, the boss hunting with Blueberry, hunting the Hoya with Yuurei, Ice cream with DAY, and punching rocks with NIGHT. He wasn't averse to the fact that he suddenly became more social, but it was strange to him that it was easier to interact with others in a virtual reality rather than a real one, considering the fact that one for the most part spent majority of their lives in the said real one.

Speaking of real, Kura brushed off some foliage and found a real cool mushroom.

(Searching for Materials, +1 Material)

His thoughts quietly turned back to the NPC's, mostly about that one specific one. The quest NPC from "The Gemini". It was a strange topic for him to broach, as it was the first time he felt he was intimate with someone other than family. Not in the romantic sense, but simply relaxing with a fellow that he felt comfortable with.

It was weird to him that there was someone else, even if they were an NPC, actually enjoyed his company enough to stay with him for a whole entire night. Even going so far as to allow him to rest and stand vigil against any stray mobs that would do him harm. Oddly touched by this kind gesture, he wondered whether or not he should just stick with NPC's and ditch interacting with players entirely.

He sighed though as he buried the thought. Kura remembered that he promised himself that he would at least try to interact with others, when he was on the outside world, and he's procrastinated on that for long enough.

(Searching for Materials, Fail)

Quietly, he noted that this was turning into a wild goose chase. While a "Demonic Shard" sounded like something that would stick out amongst the non demonic surroundings, he couldn't exactly be too sure of such a thing. His only lead was the compass, however, even if he followed it and led him to the area, there was also no explained method of harvesting the shard nor whether or not such a thing was dangerous.

Kura noted all of these things down in his head, internally nodded, and threw it all away.

There wasn't much of a point of overthinking it from Kura's viewpoint, he would simply just grab whatever the shady compass pointed with his bare hands, hope it looked devilish and creepy enough to pass as a. "Demonic Shard", and chuck it at the quest NPC. Not the most complex of plans, but Kura has never been one of thinking things through. 

Which is why he stepped over another material.

(Searching for Materials, Fail)

Now, for the reasons why Kura was interested in what was a task that took perception and patience, two things that Kura knew he lacked, was due to the fact that while yes while he may have had materials now, there was no guaranteeing that he would be able to gain resources at the same rate in the future. 

There was also the point where he thought perhaps he could grab something edible along the way, due to the fact that he forgot to pack lunch, which was another reason why he was seeking out Daemien's shop.

His eyes wandered the forest, but there wasn't anything that stood out amongst the normal foliage. Kura, while he may now have the searching skill, had also never been the most detail oriented of people, causing him to overlook most of what could be considered materials that he just simply dismissed as normal plants. There was also the fact that his main objective was the "Demonic Shard", an item that he had no description for.

(Searching for Materials, Fail)

After being sent off by Giovanni with those specific instructions, Kura made his way to the less beaten paths of the forests. There was still plenty of sunshine left in the day once he set off on his new found quest, so Kura was able to see the forest clearly enough, though when the canopy of the forest was dense enough to block out sunlight, he still could rely on the "Glow Stone" he received from the "Let There Be Light" quest.

Idly, he wondered about how the family was doing on floor two. Thoughts of whether NPC's were truly grateful after the quest had been completed wandered through his mind, and mobs had a sentience of there own wandered through his mind. He pushed those musings aside however as he brushed off another patch of foliage to reveal nothing of interest. Kura wasn't exactly sure what counted as a material or not, much less demonic shard. 

He reasoned to himself that he'll figure it out once he saw it.

(Searching for Materials, Fail)

"Wait."

It ticked Giovanni a little that after both seeing and hearing her, this player didn't hesitate to immediately backtrack. And so she had her hand on his shoulder, with a smile that held barely contained annoyance at Kura, who simply just had a raised eyebrow.

"You. Are you not here to purchase materials?"

"No, not particularly."

"... Not even to find how to gather materials yourself?"

"I was not, but now I'm interested."

Letting go of Kura's shoulder with a sigh, she rubbed her eyes as she struggled to contain her displeasure for other people. There was a reason why she preferred her herbs over others, even to the point of isolating themselves from her other fellow NPC's. Doubly so for players who would show up at the most strangest of times to interrupt her work.

Pushing down her inner thoughts, she handed Kura the compass and abbreviated her normal spiel.

"Use compass, find shard."

"Got it."

<<Quest Accepted>>

<<Obtained Cursed Compass>>

Kura found himself back on floor 1, though this time it was not for nostalgia sake. No, he was searching for Daemien's campsite, a cook that tended to travel from floor to floor. While he was acquaintances with a cook now, there something special about the food to Kura. What he didn't realize was that he actually liked bland food, and Daemien's cuisine excelled in that department. 

Putting aside the wandering cook's ability in cooking, Kura poked around the forests where he first met the other player, when he spotted a camp fire in the distance. Thinking it was Daemien, Kura began walking towards the encampment. To his surprise however, it was not the encampment, no it was location of the Gatherer quest line.

Walking out of her wagon, Giovanni regarded Kura with a curious look. It was bright and early in the morning, and it seemed to the NPC that Kura would be the first player to either barter for materials or ask for her wisdom. And so, she began her spiel...

Right on time to see Kura turn right back around and walk away.

(Player Stats)

Floor 2 was quickly becoming Kura's next "grinding spot", mostly due to those strange wasps that granted him much more experience and col than normal mob. For today however grinding was unnecessary. Kura had plenty of both Col and Materials to keep his livelihood sustained for a long while. So today, he looked to climb the mountains of floor 2 to find even better grinding spots.

His normal cup of coffee in hand, he would meander his way through Urbus when he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. It was the player that sold them trinkets awhile back, and the partner of that blonde woman from the ice cream stand. Now, while he was socially inept, he learnt a few things from interacting with Yuurei, Nian and Blueberry the past few days. Nodding to himself, Kura would greet her as he walked past.

"Hello."

Feeling satisfied that his daily social interaction has now been complete, Kura would continue on towards the mountains, unaware of the quest that awaited him.

(Player Stats)

At the end of DAY's question, Kura had a bitter sweet expression as he mulled over her words. Her query hit too close to home for Kura's liking, but he regardless pushed onwards, answering DAY with his whole heart.

"If I was betrayed enough times, I would run away for a time. I would love to say that I could constantly believe in others regardless of what happened with others, but it hurts."

With a sigh, Kura would comb through his mind, trying to find the right words to voice what he felt.

"But I would come back and try again, both for the sake of the previous beliefs in others, as well as the future potential ones. They should not be judged by the actions of others, instead by their own merits. It's unfair to label someone as a traitor before you even give them a chance."

Memories of his own actions leading to the failure of potential relationships flashed through his mind as Kura continued to speak.

"As for if it would go awry, of course it turns askew, with how easy it is to get on my good side and subsequently betray me. What makes my previous faith worthwhile for that situation, the one where they either backstab or abandon me... It is worth it because of the other relationships that remain."

A small part of Kura reminded him that there were no other relationships that lasted before, but he ruthlessly stomped that thought into the ground.

"I cannot perceive whether or not someone is a good person, the best that I can do is try as many times as I can and see who sticks around. And I would have never found those who stayed loyal if I didn't cast my search so broadly. It's only for them that makes this whole entire process worth it."

And he would continue that search without faltering.

"That is all I can do."

The question was a simple one to answer, though Kura felt it wouldn't exactly satisfy DAY judging from how she believed that Kura couldn't be won over by simple trinkets. Because he absolutely could.

"If a person does something positive towards me, I'll look at them in a positive light. I also won't worry about an arbitrary amount of time passing before they can be considered 'trusted'. So long as their future actions aren't negative towards me, it really doesn't matter what they do to win my trust, nor how long I've known them for."

While he spoke, it was now Kura's turn to stare at the crowds passing the two by. While he was, he pulled out one of the trinkets that he bought, the "Small Peppermint Sack" to be specific and idly played with it in his empty hand.

"They are items, probably made with no actual intent of helping me specifically. The fact remains that those mere items have saved my life. I consider that enough of a positive to at least not exercise caution around her for now."
 

The humor was lost on Kura as he took the situation seriously. That sounded awfully familiar, and he realized that she was referencing NIGHT. He fully now believed that NIGHT was a Gemini now, and wondered how could a NPC run what seemed to be a player shop, not even realizing that the lunch he packs for adventures is from another Gemini, Daemien to be precise.

He believed everything DAY said, until her final portion, where she advised caution. Frowning, he shook his head in disagreement.

"No. I believe I met that person before, she was an artisan who crafted trinkets that saved my life, and allowed me to save others. I refuse to treat her as an enemy."

Kura's tone held a hint of anger, something rare for him. He unconsciously placed his empty hand over the the various trinkets NIGHT had crafted that were located in his pockets, as he glared at DAY for a few moments.

Though the flare up in his emotions were forcefully pushed down as he eventually returned to a neutral look. He was here to enjoy the ice cream, and mulling over those thoughts made the dessert taste even more bitter. 

When DAY said that he should tell her partner about what he said, he would make an internal note to do such a thing when he would next pop into her artisan shop. Putting aside the fact that he would do such a life threatening thing in a place with no witnesses, outwardly Kura would simply nod to her request as he enjoyed his own ice cream.

Hearing her next line of questioning, Kura poured through his memories as he wondered what whim caused him to attempt to investigate her in the first place. Dragging it out by force, Kura recalled the information, and replied without hesitation back to DAY.

"By chance I thought I saw them enter into a player house. I thought at first I was mistaken and it was just another building in the city. But when I knocked on the door, a player actually popped out. Then, another person with your exact tone of voice, dress and looks appeared."

He paused for a moment, as if finally coming to a realization. Looking at DAY, he realized that the similarities were too great to write off as happenstance. And recently, he had completed the "Gemini" quest, so he knew of NPC's with that ability. With these two pieces of information, Kura crafted a theory. Feeling confident in it, he spoke to DAY with a serious look on his face.

"Hey, I think there's a Gemini of you that's running around on this floor."

Kura would nod when DAY asked about him looking into a quest NPC. After taking another lick, Kura would answer DAY back.

"Yeah, I was. Specifically it looked exactly like you, except with a different cursor."

With Kura being... Well Kura, he didn't even believe for a moment that this was the same person from his penchant for taking things at face value. If her cursor indicated that DAY was a player, in Kura's eyes, she couldn't be the NPC that he was looking for back then. Though even if he did realize that fact, Kura would still be as honest as he is right now when continuing to answer her questions. 

"Just curious what they were about. I've never seen her before, so I wondered if she was part of a quest or something."

While she mulled over his response, Kura would lick his ice cream, enjoying the richness of the coffee in the dessert. Though he would pause in his sweet consumption when DAY spoke up again to fish for compliments. And Kura would oblige without realizing it.

"The white cloak gave off a mysterious aura that no other NPC's in the Town of Beginnings, and the vibe she gave off was more approachable than the figure in the "Redemption" quest. I was pretty curious to see what sort of story they would tell, as she seemed like a cool person."

The stickiness of the frozen treat was quite the surprise to Kura, who expected something along the lines of frozen custard. While the consistency of this ice cream was new to Kura, and made it more difficult to eat it, it was a fun little challenge for him trying to figure out a way to consume the ice cream properly without it accidentally dripping or ending up on his face. Then, he heard DAY's call while going in for another attempt at eating the Turkish ice cream. 

"Mm?"

Mid lick, Kura would turn his attention to the voice. What he found was the same girl he saw yesterday. There was something off about her though, with something just not matching in his memories. But well, he didn't think about it too much, nor the fact that she knew his name and he never told either NIGHT nor DAY it.

"I am indeed Kura. Fire away."

He wondered what he had done to warrant the extra attention, thinking that it was maybe because how he practically dropped in without warning, and probably disturbed both of their morning with what in in hindsight was dumb question even to Kura himself. The green cursor showed that she was obviously a player in Kura's eyes, and quietly he wondered how he missed that yesterday.

A normal player would have questions about why DAY was shoved over while bragging by a desperate NIGHT, about the player's haggard look on their face when they blatantly lied to their face, or about the sudden ending of their conversation by way of door slamming. Then was the mystery of NIGHT saying that no NPC lived here, and he never once asked if a NPC lived here, just that if they've seen them.

Kura questioned NONE of those things. 

No, Kura just simply believed NIGHT's word at face value. If she says that there was no NPC here, even when DAY literally just poked her head out of the door, then it was so. Shrugging, he would sip his coffee and simply walked away.

-- The Next Day --

On another day, Kura would be found in the morning in front of a street vendor. But not just any street vendor, it was an ice cream one. They apparently just set up shop recently, and Kura's been meaning to go to it for awhile. Finishing his crafting early today, he decided to visit and grab himself a coffee flavored ice cream as a reward. As he took a lick, he smiled. The combination of the cool winds and sweet ice cream made his already good day any better.

There probably wouldn't be any shenanigans today.

When a sliver of the inside of their home could be peeked into, Kura would refrain from looking inside. Whether it was due to lack of curiosity, or out of politeness, he would instead focus on the home as a whole while he waited for whoever DAY was to show up. 

The modern style of the building was strangely fitting in the medieval setting of the surrounding buildings, and Kura wasn't exactly sure how the architect pulled it off. Regardless, it was nice to see some diversity in the buildings, and it was a bonus that it reminded him of home in the city. 

The apology from DAY she made when bumping into NIGHT would redirect his attention back to door, just in time for DAY to poke her head out. Kura would be silent for a moment once he saw DAY, then internally raised an eyebrow. No quest notification, no spiel about what quest they're about to embark on, nothing. All they had was a curious look to their face. DAY's question towards him snapped him out of his mulling and he began to respond back to her query.

"A quest. I thought you were a special event NPC when I saw you and I got curious. Gonna assume from the lack of system notification I was wrong, unless I missed a requirement somewhere."

Kura was once more thrown for a loop once more, as instead of that blonde NPC that Kura expected to pop out, it was the owner of that artisan store that he visited a few weeks ago. A few crackpot theories went through his head, such as this quest being based around recently dead players and you needing to put them to rest. 

Judging from her slurred speech however, Kura reckoned that he himself was the only thing keeping her from going back to sleep. He pushed those thoughts aside though, Kura knew that he wasn't much of a thinker, and the answer to his questions is already in front of him. There was no point in overthinking it before he had any information.

When NIGHT posed her question, Kura surprisingly was able to comprehend her words through the mumbling tone. Deciding to skip pleasantries from how tired they seemed, Kura instantly replied.

"I'm looking for what I think is a quest NPC. She was blonde if I recall correctly."

After that was said and done, Kura sipped on his beverage once more, enjoying the sun at his back. To most, the act randomly knocking on someone else's door was strange but Kura didn't particular care. So long as he had his coffee, other's opinions of him could be set on the back on burner.

It was a beautiful day when Kura found himself outside of another's player house, ready to knock on the door. The only experience he had entering another person's property was Blueberry's, and even that was more of a workshop than a home. But that didn't matter, his curiosity had already been peaked.

For a little context, this started when Kura saw something, or rather someone, strange. While Kura wasn't the most perceptive of individuals, he remembered all of the NPC's faces by heart in the "Town of Beginnings" from how long he's lived here for. So when he ran into a certain blonde NPC while taking a morning stroll, he was a little surprised to see a new face, but he didn't think too much about it. Until she casually entered what seemed to be a player's home. 

He was certain that this area was someone's estate, but if so, it wouldn't make any sense for a random NPC to be able to just waltz inside. So now he was thinking that maybe this was a location for a quest, maybe a haunted house and the girl was a spirit or something. 

Idly, Kura thought he probably shouldn't be unarmed while going what he thinks is some sort of quest site, but his hand was already filled with his coffee cup. And strangely enough the risk of death was worth it to Kura if it meant that he could sip on his drink a little longer. With these thoughts in mind, Kura knocked on the door with his empty hand.

"Hello?"

(Stats)