Kura

The sun gently enveloped the two as they peacefully made their way through the mountains. It was a beautiful day, a sharp contrast to the horrors inside the cave that they were both subject to. Now not in any immediate danger, Koko's gaze quietly roamed the surroundings, simply happy that she was outside once more. However, after a good few minutes, she spoke.

"Thank you."

"Ah, no problem. Do you think you can walk on your own now? We shouldn't run into anything else on the way back to Urbus."

Koko opened her mouth, ready to say that she believed she could, but then remembered the monsters inside of the cave, of the skittering as well as screeching of the creatures surrounding her in total darkness. She tightened her grip around Kura, refusing to let him go for even a moment. Taking that as a no, he quietly adjusted her in an attempt to make her more comfortable and slowed his pace further.
 

Once more, the notifications for loot were dismissed as soon as they came up. He wasn't focused on that anyways, instead sprinting towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Any form of physical exhaustion that came from his tribulations in the cave was forcefully suppressed by sheer will power, allowing for him to sprint even faster than before, with Koko desperately hanging on for dear life.

And with that final burst of speed, they made it to the outside.

The monsters that gave chase were warded away by the light of the sun. They were safe for the time being. Kura however, wasn't taking chances as he continued to run for a few more minutes, until he was absolutely sure that he and Koko were safe. Looking over his shoulder at the kid, he found an expression of relief combined with slight motion sickness. Realizing that he was probably the cause for both, Kura slowed his pace to a walk. And so they traversed the mountains back to town.

(Loot)

Kura counted four pairs of eyes much closer than the rest as he dashed forward to meet the bats in battle. Said bats were not expecting the player to turn back around and charge towards them. In consequence, they struggled to dodge out of the way of Kura's wild swings. They quickly fell apart, struggling to form a counter offensive as for a brief moment the hunters became the hunted.

Almost as quickly as it began, the four bats were decimated by brute force. Kura held no mercy, with every single strike hitting true. He could not afford to miss even a single one of the bats, there was just no more time. As soon as the final bat fell, he could feel Koko run up and struggle to climb up onto his back. He quickly kneeled, secured her once more, and rapidly move towards the entrance of the cave once more.

(Combat)

There was no time to take pleasure in his victory, as Kura stormed forward as soon as the threat was dealt with. The notification of his loot stood in contrast of the darkness around him, though he took little note of that as he dismissed it as soon as he could. They were still being pursued, and his little scuffle with the giant bat cost them precious time. 

Luckily, a large portion of the creatures pursuing them had quite a bit of distance to cover before reaching them, however, a few of the faster mobs, namely the more agile of the bats were about to close the gap. Realizing that he couldn't out run the more fleet of foot mobs, Kura steeled himself to face another wave of creatures.

"Koko, I need you to let go for a moment. As soon as I'm done fighting you're going to hop right back on."

She nodded, letting herself slide off of Kura. With his maneuverability back for the moment, he sprinted right back into the enemy.

(Loot)

He was faster than the bats behind him, being given enough of a head start as well as his agility being boosted by the trinkets he kept on hand keeping him far away from the swarm. His speed however, mattered little when trying to evade the creatures already in front of him.

Another giant bat, already laying in wait, moved to intercept the two. It hissed as it swooped in, trying to gain vengeance for its fallen brethren. Sensing it, Kura began to sprint faster, ready to reunite the bat with its dead compatriots.

It was awkward to fight with a passenger, Kura made do however. He used his war hammer as a battering ram, killing all of the momentum of the Giant Bat's charge and knocking the bat onto the ground. With the bat now with low health and prone, he stomped on it's wind pipe, knocking the final few hit points off, with its body shattering into light like the monsters before it.

(Combat)

There was something moving towards him. Straining his ears, it didn't sound like the flapping of wings nor the crawling of large insects. It sounded like the pitter patter of feet. Kura could see a vague humanoid shape bolting towards him. As it got closer, he could hear a childish voice call out in response.

"Here! I'm here!"

Taking a guess that this was the child that he was meant to save, he rushed towards her. While Kura didn't care for himself breaking his own cover, Koko running towards him would absolutely draw any monster's attention towards her and put her in danger. And he was beginning to hear the screeching of multiple bats in the distance. As soon as Koko was close, he would kneel and gesture towards his back.

"Hop on, and hold on as tight as you can. I'm getting you to your mom."

She nodded, and hoisted herself onto Kura's back. Internally he knew that with Koko piggy backing on him now his ability to dodge would be severely limited. But the pace of a child would be too slow to outrun the swarm of bats rapidly approaching them, and so his capability to avoid damage was sacrificed without a moment of hesitation. After making sure she was secure, he began to bolt towards the exit.

(Searching for Koko, Success)

"Kid, I'm sent by your mother! I'm the guy with the large hammer!"

Shouting in a cave full of monsters was suicidal at best, but pressed for time, he had little option. Koko, if she was still alive, would probably be hiding in some nook or cranny of the cave. And if she was crying loud enough that Kura could hear her, the monsters would have already heard her and descended upon her. So giving her a beacon to follow using his voice wasn't exactly the worst idea.

That was not his thought process however, Kura was just trying his best to find Koko regardless of the danger it put himself in. If it meant that the whole entire ecosystem of the cave was about to attack him for his gamble, he cared little. And it was beginning to seem that way, as when he shouted, he felt the gaze of something inhuman once more from the shadows.

He continued shouting regardless.

(Searching for Koko, Fail)

(Out of Combat Regeneration)

Kura felt nothing else watching him as he continued on through the cave. He felt no relief in that, instead completely on guard for anything that might have escaped his sights. This also had the side benefit of him hopefully spotting out Koko, but with the darkness blanketing the area it was going to be tough.

Caring little about the problem of not being able to see while looking for someone, he would continue to move deeper and deeper into the cavern. The little light from the cave entrance was long gone, and if he didn't coincidentally have both the accuracy buffs or his trinkets, he'd probably be long lost. As well as dead. He continued to scan around him, but unless she had glowing red eyes such as the bats he faced earlier, there was little he could do in terms of actually looking for the kid with sight alone. Deciding that the time for caution was over, he took in a deep breath.

 

(Out of Combat Regeneration)

He was still on guard after the final bat fell, scanning his surroundings to his best ability in the dark. As for the mob drops that appeared in his inventory, he would not dare check on the loot before he's found Choshi's daughter. And so he dismissed the notifications about his loot and continued to search for any other would be ambushers. Once it was clear, Kura continued to make his way through the cave at the same slow pace as before.

Idly, his eyes wandered over to his health, noting it slowly crawl towards being full once more. It was the first time he's ever been taken so low, the mobs on the first floor lacking any sort of punch. However, Kura cared little about his brush with death, instead glad that his health was regenerating at a rate that he would soon be able to fight once more. As for exhaustion, his tenacity allowed him to ignore his almost depleted energy. 

(Loot)

(Out of Combat Regeneration)

Realizing that simply shaking wasn't going to have this bat let go, with one hand he grabbed a wing of the bat and tore it from himself. And before the bat could readjust and sink its fangs into his arm, he slammed the creature against the wall. Stunned, it fell to the ground. Not for long however, as once on the ground, it tried to right itself so it could take off once more.

Kura had other ideas however.

He slammed his foot onto one of its wings and kept it there, with the bat not having the strength to wrestle its appendage out. Then, he hefted up his hammer, ready to end this. It was a telegraphed move that the bat saw from a mile away, however it was stuck under the boot of Kura. Desperately it tried to squirm away, trying to reach the safety of the air so it could once more go for another counter attack. 

His hammer crushed the bat a few seconds later.

(Combat)

As the bat tried to regain altitude to go for another swoop, Kura looked to end the fight. Sprinting forward once more, he landed a critical hit against his opponent. All the mobs, even the Giant Bat fell to him in a single blow. However, this bat was as tenacious as Kura, as it bit through the pain and survived.

And coincidentally, Kura's poor positioning allowed for the bat to get another counter attack. Bearing its fangs, it zipped towards him with vengeance. Catching Kura flat footed, the bat sunk its teeth into his exposed throat. Then, rather than flying away, it latched onto him, ripping and tearing away at Kura's flesh. Kura could feel the the numbing sensation spread from where he was being bit, with the pain being nulled by the Cardinal system. Being eaten alive however, regardless of whether he felt it or not, put a sour taste in his mouth. Kura tried to shake the bat off, but it hung on for dear life, knowing that this was probably its only chance to take down the hammer user.

(Combat)

Four pairs of beady red eyes stalked Kura as he searched for Koko. He wasn't exactly the subtlest of players, and the deafening crack of his war hammer against the Giant Bat had echoed across the cave. They waited, and when he was within reach, they swooped in unison for the kill.

Glowing red eyes in the dark however, wasn't exactly subtle either.

Kura's war hammer ripped through their numbers like wheat to a scythe. The poor bats were smaller than the hammer head itself, so when it made contact while he swung their bodies crumpled under the concussive force, dropping dead with a single blow. The awkward angles that the bat's bones bent were a bit gruesome, but they shattered into light seconds latter. They all died...

Except for one.

There was a bat that was plucky enough to swoop under his blow and go for their own. Side stepping the bats lunge, Kura chambered another strike, ready to fell the survivor.

(Combat)

Kura waved off the notification for his loot, he would have time to look over it later. It was dark in here, however he was uncannily perceptive, almost as if he could still see. This wasn't normal for Kura, and he idly wondered that dessert he had a few hours ago were to blame for it. But he shoved that thought aside and began to press onward once more.

The feeling that something was watching him hadn't faded earlier, in fact Kura felt it get even worse as he continued his way through the cavern. He moved at a slower pace than he liked, with the darkness and mobs forcing him to take some caution while going through the cave. This wasn't from any sort of self preservation like a normal person, no he simply believed that he fell here then there would be no one else to save Koko. And with that in mind, he delved further into the dark.

(Loot)

(Out of Combat Regeneration)

His appearance belies his agility, with Kura maneuvering through the multiple hills with ease. It was a surreal sight, seeing a man with a war hammer the size of himself dashing though the mountains without ever once losing his footing. While moving, he opened his map in attempt to gather his bearings, luckily for both Choshi and Kura, he noticed that there was something marked on his map and he was rather close to it.

Changing his direction slightly to angle himself towards the location, he arrived to the cavern in only a few mere minutes. It was an ominous place, there was no light from within, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. Despite that, he dove into the darkness without hesitaiton. The recklessness of this player stunned the Giant Bat guarding the entrance, but figuring for easy prey it swooped in for the kill.

Only for a war hammer to crash into its fragile body, crushing its ribs and killing it easily. It's body exploded into light a few moments later.

(Combat)

"Yeah, that's the plan. This is a time sensitive issue so I'll be off."

Kura would once more begin to move away, and he was already out of earshot when Choshi would begin her second spiel about thanking him and a reward. Luckily Kura cared little about that, all on his mind was the little kid that he had to save, and was already out of the gates when Choshi ended her dialogue. 

The NPC was a little flabbergasted at Kura running off in the middle of her bit, but it seemed to her that he would indeed be embarking on the quest, without a specific location to go to nor any promise of reward. After pinning the location where her daughter got lost in on his map , she would hope that he would at least pay attention to his player map so he wouldn't be running around like a headless chicken searching for her Koko.

"Good luck, player."

QUEST ACCEPTED

"You already said her location though, a cavern in the mountains. I plan to comb through the whole entire range tonight and search through each individual cave I come across to find your kid."

Choshi was taken aback for a moment, the sheer audacity of what he said he would do stunning her. The floor was 10 kilometers in diameter and not the easiest to traverse, and the only reason why she didn't call out the insanity of that statement is from how she can tell Kura would absolutely do so if it meant saving her child.

"So, you're really going to help me?"

Kura scratched his head, wondering why he had to repeat himself. His goal now was to save this NPC's kid, and like every other goal he had before, he knew that he would either fulfill his objective or die trying. To him, it was obvious that if he said he was going to set out to do something he would do it.

It was a strange day when Kura wasn't found on the first floor grinding away against monsters. In fact he wasn't on the first floor at all, a pleasantly new experience to the hammer wielding man. His profession was a new and costly expense to his finances, and the mob drops on the first floor were unable to keep up. So he now looks for more lucrative hunting grounds on higher floors. 

Stepping off the teleport gate, Kura was immediately confronted by Choshi, who gave her spiel. Half way through however, Kura began to walk towards the mountains.

"W-wait! Are you not even going to listen to me?"

He stopped, with a confused looked on his Kura turned around with a raised eye brow.

"No need to, I've already decided I wanted to help."

Baffled, the woman's expression was torn between relief and bewliderment.

"But I haven't even marked the location yet! How can you even find her without it?!"

(Player Stats)

Rare was the day that Kura wouldn't already be farming in the fields of the first floor in the morning, and even rarer was the fact that he had no plans whatsoever to grind. He planned for today to be about working on his profession, but after going out for almost everyday to grind, it felt strange to not at least greet the morning sun. And so he was taking a casual walk around town.

The main street was a refreshing sight to him as well, sticking to the slums more often than not. There were plenty of shops and players he had never seen before peaking his curiosity, including the Cintamani. And by coincidence, said shop was the closest thing that caught his interest, and he made his way towards it.

"Coffee." 

Kura's immediately recognized the aroma as soon as he entered into the shop. That use to be his bread and butter whenever he wanted to put off sleep for the sake of completing something, a situation that happened far too frequently back in the real world. Consequently, it was a drink that he used to drink often and grew fond of.

However, he would not be drinking it today, much his displeasure.

Apparently caffeine adversely affects one singing, his profession, and he held enough self restraint to not immediately order the drink. Internally however, he made a note that as soon as he was able to, that coffee would be purchased and consumed.

Stomping out the temptation, he looked around for anything else that would catch his eye. He saw the tea, and while used to drinking the stuff, he never particularly liked it. Then he saw the "Liquor of Light". Liquid sunshine sounded interesting enough and the book he bought didn't say anything about that having negative affects on singing.

And so he would go through the motions of the purchase. With a "Thank you" and a wave, he would make his way outside. But before he would leave, Kura would look at the coffee one more final time, bite down on his desires once more, and go out, looking to pursue his craft once more.

Purchasing 2x "Liquor of Light" from @NIGHT for 4 materials in total.

Purchasing the following items:

• 1x Custom Ambition Tool
• 1x Field Rations
• 1x Teleport Crystal
• 2x Spy Glasses

Total: 4200 Col

One right turn and still shady alley way later, Kura was right where he wanted to be. Instead of being lost like last time, Kura was purposely seeking out The Evening Star this time. It was a combination of a whim, a desire to spend his newly acquired gains, and lack of hesitation in fulfilling both that led to that same glass door.

"Hello again" Kura would say as he stepped inside the building. And once more two items looked interesting to Kura, and so he began again going through the process of purchasing the items, this time it was the "Small Konpeito Sack" and the "Platinum Shard".

He went through the motions, trading the payment and such. Once it was over, he would give a warm smile contrary to NIGHT's sharp expression and give her a little wave as he left.

"Thanks again."

Purchasing 1x "Small Konpeito Sack" and 1x "Platinum Shard" from @NIGHT for 6 materials in total.

05/25/2021 Rank 1

+N/A Items

+5 EXP

-2 Materials

In a shady corner in the Town of Beginnings, lays an unremarkable tavern. It has no name, the only indication that it's a watering hole in the first place is a sign with a beer mug engraved on it. If you were to visit in the day, it would be a desolate place with the only sign of life is the NPC manning the bar. For the most part, it was just simply an unpopular tavern, due to its poor quality of food, drink, and general location. 

At night however, it's a slightly different story.

The clinking of glasses could be heard, along side light applause every so often from outside. Entering during this time you would find a few NPCs and players alike nursing drinks. And while the NPC's mostly kept to themselves, the one or two players there would be watching Kura on a makeshift stage, singing his heart out. It was only a-capella performances, mostly due to him having a lack of understanding regarding instruments. Didn't mean he didn't give his all, and for his efforts he would receive some polite applause from the few players in the tavern.

Eventually he'd call it a night, and go to the bar for a drink himself. And during that time, if asked whether or not he was selling any songs, he would open a trade window with you and ask.

"What type of song?"

Inventory:

Pricing:

Order:

Equipment/Buffs

Crafting Table/Total EXP

EaL Craft

It was a yawn here, an eye rub there. He had been staying up for far longer than he normally does. Including the fact that he had singing lessons, did extra grinding on top of all the normal daily grinding he does, and now trying his best to sing even more took quite a bit out of him.

Much to his displeasure, he felt his eyes unconsciously start to close, and the bed suddenly feeling a lot softer than it was a few moments ago. In fact, the very thought that he was on his bed in the first place confused him, as he believed he was standing while singing.

He tried to continue, pressing the activation button on the recording device for one last time. And if he ever replays his final recording, all he would hear is his quiet breathing as he slept. It had been a long day for him, and finally he would have his rest.

However, there was one last thing Kura overlooked while recording, too sleepy to catch it. In the description of the voice recording device, there was Kura's teachers final blessing.

"Knock 'em dead" - Landon Axel

 

(Summary)

No one could say that Kura didn't give it his all while trying to recreate his song. Hours went by, him singing at the top of his lungs. Luckily there was either sound proofing in the room that he was staying in or no one particularly cared. Kura sure didn't, as he belted out the same lines over and over again. It just wasn't meant to be however.

He replayed the recording back once more. It was the little things, such as something sounding flat here, or accidentally going to high there. Little things, but the recording from Landon's place didn't have such flaws, and he wouldn't accept any less.

Luckily for Kura's throat, it was impossible to shred your vocal cords in game, as he would have certainly done so trying to sing for so long straight. And even after they were gone he would still try to find a way to continue until he got the perfect recording. But even Kura gets tired.