[PP-F22] Somewhere You Belong

[Reytac 0]

Reytac strolled back through the Town of Beginnings, listening to the hustle and bustle of the town and the players around him as he walked. Even now, when he had a house settled, he came here to just be around others – this was still the place where the most players hung out, and outside of odd events it was where he absolutely saw the most. He didn’t even think he’d managed to finish all the quests down here – he knew for a fact, now, that there was a dungeon, a heinous dungeon, hidden somewhere on this floor, but he also knew he far and away wasn’t ready for that one. But it was also cathartic, to come back here, and see how far he had come. 

Not that long ago he had been just like these players, stumbling about in their starter equipment, if they even had any, and unsure of where he was meant to be going. Now here he was, scouting out quests and hunting for a dungeon or two to try getting specialized gear to prep for the front line. Hell, he’d been where the little white-haired girl on the teleporter pads was not long ago, trying to figure out where he needed to go, with not a lick to his name. Idly Rey rested one elbow on the table of the little café he was at, watching people coming and going, when his gaze was drawn back to that white -haired girl. Maybe because she reminded him a bit of Nisa, who always had odd things going on around her, but he found himself watching – and nearly knocking over his chair as he shot bolt upright when the woman clicked on the twenty-second floor icon. 

”Miss wait no-“ His voice was drowned out in the hubbub of people entering and leaving the plaza, as the woman clicked the confirmation button and vanished into a shimmer of light. Rey cursed under his breath as he rushed over to the plaza, nearly knocking another player over in his hurry. He paid no attention to the burly man who took offense, as his fingers flew through the teleporter menu. 

It’ fine, it’s fine, she must know someone there. Or, at worst, she’s in a safe zone, and was just trying to sight see. Nothing to worry about. Even as Rey thought this to himself, he couldn’t shake a level of concern for the ill-equipped young woman. Maybe he was being overly cautious, and he’d get there to find out she was going there intentionally, or even a front liner herself and just didn’t have her ‘work’ equipment on. Still, he hit the teleport button, and followed after her, just in case he was wrong. Or, right. 

The teleportation, as always, left him stumbling for a moment, and he shook his head to clear the vertigo that clung to him, and looked around. Not far away he spotted the girl again, and this time he was able to see her face as she walked along aimlessly – heading towards one of the safe zone’s gates. She looked.. Confused, and a little lost, and he cursed under his breath as she kept almost walking into Npcs and the odd player that were up on this floor. Rey had been here before, when he visited Sentinel to pick up some potions, so he was a little familiar with the floor, but it looked like this girl had no idea where she was going. 

”Miss, wait-“ Reytac called out to the woman as he started walking towards her. The woman looked over her shoulder at him, and what happened next Rey would normallly have told the girl was a smart idea if a random, unknown man called out to her. She started walking faster, and when he called out again, she took off running, sprinting past people and out through the city gates. Reytac had started jogging when she sped up, and he cursed under his breath. The armor he was wearing was slowing him down, enough that she pulled away as he tried to get her to stop. Shouting reassurances that he wasn’t trying to do anything would have just been dumb, and gotten him tackled by any of the players who were even now starting to turn and see what the commotion was. 

Then he was out himself, immediately pulling his hammer out when the possibility of mobs spawning became a thing. He could still see the girl ahead of him, now trying to run off the path, and he cursed as he pushed his legs as much as he could trying to speed up and catch her before anything happened. He knew that most of the obs on this floor were fairly passive, but if she ran into something- 

Rey heard a shout ahead, a scream, and cursed himself for jinxing things. Turned the corner in the road that the girl had run around moments before, and saw a boar pawing the ground as it snorted again and tossed its head. The girl was on the ground in front of it, with one shoe on the other side of the boar – she must have tripped over the lazy beast, and it was upset its nap had been interrupted. Rey lunged, getting between the girl and the boar just as it squealed and tried to charge into her.

One of the tusks buried itself in his stomach, thankfully not breaking through his armor, but it did knock the wind out of him. He latched on and heaved, tossing the boar away as he brought his hammer up, holding his free hand over his stomach as he wheeze. 

The boar got back to its feet, stumbling a little bit, then let out another squeal as it looked at Reytac. Reytac swung his hammer in the air between the – and let out a sigh of relief when the boar decided it wasn’t worth it, and wandered off, disappearing into the trees. He slumpedd down a little, before turning slightly to look at the girl – woman, even if she was younger than he that was behind him. 

”I’m sorry, Miss, I really was just trying to help you. You accidentally came to the twenty second floor.” He said between gasps as he rubbed his sore stomach. The pain sensations were deadened, but that had still been a punch in the gut that had knocked the wind right out of him. He coughed to one side as he let his hammer head drop to the ground, then used it to prop himself up for a moment like a makeshift cane. 

”My name is Reytac. Uh, it.. Kinda looks like you need some equipment. Sentinel Armaments is on this floor, we can probably help you get set up there. Or I can at the very least take you back to the safe zone – which you really shouldn’t leave, even if you’re being chased.” He offered as his breathing recovered and stabilized.

 

 

Reytac | HP: 720/720 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 21 | MIT:66 | ACC:3 | LM: 1 | EVA:2 | BH:7 | LD:3

Edited 1 hour ago by Reytac