[SP-F2] Let there be Light

[Azide 0]

He nodded. "Of course I can find her," replied Azide. "Do you happen to have a picture of her? The more recent, the better," he added. After he'd thought about the request a little more, he realized how stupid it was for him to even ask for a picture. "It's not as if there's going to be a bunch of other girls lost in the caves," he realized. "But I've already asked, so I might as well follow through."

The woman smiled and wiped away a tear, then presented him with a small portrait of a smiling little girl sitting on a set of swings. She wore short little pigtails, and appeared to have both brown hair and brown eyes. "Oh thank you so much, Azide. You don't know how glad I am to hear that. Please, bring her back to me as soon as you can," he pleaded.

Once again, he nodded, having committed the image to memory. "You have my word, miss. I promise I'll bring her back as soon as I find her." He set up the coordinates he'd received from the quest to display on his map, then bid the woman farewell as he made his way towards the caves in the side of the mountains.

[Azide 0]

After a decent amount of hiking, he'd finally arrived at the flat-topped mountains of the second floor. There were many openings littered all over the face of the range, that much he could tell. Hell, the entire structure resembled a giant stone sculpture of Swiss cheese. At a loss for where the little girl might be hiding, he decided he might as well begin by entering the nearest opening he could find. "There's no guarantees that all of these cave systems are actually connected. It could take ages trying to navigate them, having to reach dead ends and leave, only to repeat the process again with another entrance." He began making his way to one of these entrances, located slightly below ground level. "And yet, somehow I find it unlikely that the girl entered any entrance significantly above this one. She would've had to climb up the mountain itself." And just like that, he decided down into the caves, and stepped into the darkness.

[Azide 0]

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, though he still felt somewhat impaired as far as combat went. "I can see enough to make my way around, but these definitely aren't optimal conditions," he thought. As he darted his eyes around the walls for a path of some sort, he spotted a creature flying straight at him, its eyes flashing red and reflecting the dim lighting of the cave. He jumped out of the way, then ran forward and slashed at the creature mid-air, managing to land a hit in spite of the unfavorable lighting conditions.

ID: 10953

BD: 6 (-1 Dark) (+3 Accuracy) = 8 (Hit)

MD: 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Bat) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

The bat flew at him once more, attempting to land on exposed skin in order to bite him. "This thing must be based off of the vampire bat," he thought. "Personally, if I'd designed this game, I would've given them all bleed and life steal effects. But then again, maybe that's exactly what Kayaba did, though I'd hope not. Not that I'd be in any real danger, but I don't want anything prolonging the inevitable. I hate it when things start to drag." Finishing that though, he sidestepped the creature, clearing its trajectory with ease. He attempted a counterattack with his rapier, but missed his swing by the narrowest margin. "Damn this lighting," he thought.

ID: 10956

BD: 3 (-1)(+3) = 5 (Miss)

MD: 2 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 9/18

[Azide 0]

The creature came flying his way once again, though this time it'd actually managed to latch onto his shoulder and puncture the leather armor he wore. After it'd received its fill of blood, it'd made an attempt to escape the player's range, but was struck down at the last moment. Azide had made a vigorous effort to the shake the creature off of him, then concentrated as it dismounted from his shoulder. "Let's make this count," he thought, focusing his attention one the silhouetted creature. Barely able to even see the winged beast, he was satisfied when he felt his sword meeting resistance, cutting the creature cleanly in half. It shattered, leaving behind a bit of col and crafting material. "Is this blood of some sort?" he thought. "Morbid, but useful, no doubt." He sent both to his inventory, then went back to looking around for a path, finding it in the form of an opening in the cavern wall up ahead.

ID: 10957

BD: 3 (-1)(+3)(+1 Concentration) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 8 (Hit)

LD: 14 (Loot found)

Concentration CD (0/5)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1

Damage taken (Bat) = 9

Azide HP: 29/30 (-1)

Bat HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired.

**HP (18) * 5 = 90 col acquired.

[Azide 0]

He pressed on further, having slipped into the opening he'd spotted earlier. It lead to a narrow path, which made him feel slightly uneasy. "It's not that I have claustrophobia, because I certainly don't. But a path this narrow that's both dark and underground is definitely not the ideal place to be in. Not in real life, and not in a death game like this one." In spite of it, he continued onwards, keeping one hand near the grip of his rapier, while the other continually pressed against the side of the cave wall just to give him a sense of progress as he cautiously made his way through. "I wonder if a little girl could survive all of this?" he thought. "Would these creatures attack an NPC?" he wondered.

[Azide 0]

He shook his head. "It's possible, but I have a feeling that probably wouldn't be the case in this particular quest, although I should still try to find her as quickly as possible. If not for her safety, then for my own sake." He continued pressing his palm against the side of the passage as he took every slow step, and after what seemed like ages, he spotted another opening ahead. The sight added a bit more spring to his step, and he quickly made his way out into the next cavern. "Still underground, but at least I have a bit more breathing room," he thought, looking around.

[Azide 0]

Craning his neck around, he could now see that this particular cavern was a bit larger than the last one. If not in area, then in volume. He peered up, noticing how much higher the cavern ceiling was this time around. There were no further openings at ground level as far as he could tell. He'd even scouted the perimeter a second time, just to save him the trouble of missing any important details he'd later regret. Taking this into account, he began transversing the natural stairways spiraling around the edge of the circular room and leading to all sorts of openings in the sides of the walls. Most of these openings were quite large, and he'd felt tempted to explore of these larger entrances. "But if I were a child, and I were stuck in a cave, which one would I choose?" he thought. "In the case of a hostile territory like this, I have to assume that this little girl might've been running from a hostile creature. In which case..." he crouched on the ground and peered through a tiny opening located low to the ground. "It'd have to be this one," he thought, beginning to combat crawl through it. "The things I do for skill points."

[Azide 0]

Luckily, the tiny opening hadn't led to some narrow passage like the last opening he'd entered. "And thank god for that," he thought, picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off. The opening had been just that- an opening in the wall, leading into another room. At first, he'd thought the room to be completely empty, and walked into the center of it. There was a small gem of some sort lying on the ground, and he picked it up, recognizing its use in crafting, then sent it to his inventory. He looked around, spotting another opening on the other side. "At least this one is a little more reasonably sized," he thought, massaging his shoulders. He began making his way towards the entrance, when suddenly he heard something screeching at him from above. He looked up to see a bat flying at him in the distance. He shook his head in disbelief. "No, it's not flying in the distance. This is a damn cave," he muttered. It came closer, until he could see it for more than just a silhouette. "It just happens to be very big," he'd concluded, unsheathing his rapier.

ID: 10959

LD: 17 (Material found)

*1 material acquired (2 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

As the creature came closer and closer, descending from the depths of the darkness, Azide heard footsteps coming from the entrance he'd spotted earlier. Against his better judgement, he briefly turned his head to glance over at the opening, spotting a small child peeking out from behind the corner. "That must be the little girl," he thought. He sighed in relief, recognizing how much trouble this would save him. "And here I was thinking I might have to scour the entirety of the mountain and all of its caves," he thought. He waved at her and offered a smile, intending to reassure her, then turned back to the flying beast heading his way.

[Azide 0]

The giant bat swooped down at him, making a swipe at his head with it clawed feet, as if it were pretending to be a hawk or an eagle. In any case, the creature had mad an admirable effort, coming close enough to run those claws through the player's brown locks without actually making contact with his head. "Close shave," he thought. "And yet I'd still like to wash my hair when I return all the same." He turned and leapt high into the air, then plunged his slim blade through the creature's body, skewering it. It made a large shriek as the metal pierced its flesh, then another as the player forcibly yanked said metal out of it.

ID: 10960

BD: 10 (Crit +2)

MD: 6 (-2 Accuracy) = 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Giant Bat) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) + 2 (Crit +2) = 11

Azide HP: 30/30

Giant Bat HP: 19/30 (-11)

[Azide 0]

The creature returned, attempting to tackle the player to the ground, but narrowly missed when Azide ducked just low enough for the bat to harmlessly clear his head. Once again, he could feel the creature brush against his hair as it came just inches from actually hitting him. "If my head were just a little bigger, I'd probably be suffering considerably more damage in this game," he reflected. He found himself thankful for his normal-sized cranium, then focused his efforts on stabbing at the creature a second time. He missed, however, with Quantum Slicer stabbing harmlessly at the air.

ID: 10961

BD: 3 (Miss)

MD: 7 (-2 Accuracy) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0

Azide HP: 30/30

Giant Bat HP: 19/30

[Azide 0]

From the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl peeking out a little further from behind the opening. He'd briefly glanced over further to keep an eye on her position when she began stepping out into the room. "You should really stay over there for now," he said, raising his voice while attempting to maintain a friendly tone. He evaded the giant bat as it swooped down at him once again. "You can come out as soon as I handle our little friend over here," he said, gesturing to the winged beast he was currently engaging. "But for now, it's probably safer over there. Don't worry, I've got this covered." He ran over to the bat and slashed at its leg, managing to land a blow even while the creature hovered in the air.

ID: 10962

BD: 4 (-1)(+3) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Giant Bat) = 9 (Base+Rapier+Skills)

Azide HP: 30/30

Giant Bat HP: 10/30 (-9)

[Azide 0]

The creature flew high into the air, making Azide believe that it was making a temporary retreat to the safety of the roof. This was technically a correct assumption, with the catch being that its retreat was considerably more temporary than he'd been lead to believe. He turned around briefly to speak to the girl more directly, rather than making off-hand remarks while fighting a giant bat, but found himself slammed to the ground when said bat reappeared significantly quicker than he'd been expecting. Finding himself pinned against the ground underneath the oversized bat, he managed to turn himself just enough slash at the creature's face with his rapier. He felt the pressure disappear as the creature let out a shriek and shattered, leaving behind a decent amount of col along with more crafting material. He picked himself off the ground, grateful to have healed off the damage with his last strike, then turned to face the girl a second time. "Hey, now that I've taken care of that, I'm here to get you out of this place," he called out.

ID: 10963

BD: 9 (Crit +1)(Life Steal +1)

MD: 10 (Crit +2)

CD: 10 (+1 HP)

LD: 13 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Azide) = 2 (base) + 2 (Crit +2) - 3 (Mitigation) = 1

Damage taken (Giant Bat) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) + 1 (Crit +1) = 10

Azide HP: 30/30 (-1)(+2)

Giant Bat HP: 0/30 (-10) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (3 materials acquired, total).

**HP (30) * 5 = 150 col acquired (240 col acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

The girl peeked out a little more from behind the corner and eyed him for a while before nodding slowly, then slowly stepped out into the room. "Are you really here to save me?" she asked. "How do I know you're not a bad guy?" She kept her distance as she questioned him, but was at least standing close enough for him to properly identify her as the girl from the photo.

"But of course it'd be here. It's not as if a bunch of other girls got lost in this caves," he thought. He smiled at her, then laughed at her question. After sheathing his rapier, he held his hands in front of him as if to signify that he wasn't hiding anything. "You make a good point," he answered. "You're just going to have to trust me on this one, but I promise I mean no harm. In fact, I'm a green player, meaning I've never attacked another player. So it's not all just hearsay."

The little girl blinked, then crossed her arms. "You talk funny," she replied. "I'll go with you, but no funny business, funny guy. If I have to, I'll slip away again. So let's just get out of here right now, okay?"

Azide lowered his hands and nodded, still keeping up his smile. "Deal. I want nothing more than for both of us to get out of here unharmed, and it'll help if you stay close enough for me to keep an eye on you." He took a few slow steps forward, while the girl repeated his actions. They met each other half way, then proceeded to move to the next room.

[Azide 0]

He crawled through the tiny opening first, struggling to crawl under the tiny space. "This wasn't easy to do the first time around, and it's not getting any easier," he thought, straining to push himself through the narrow opening. The girl was quick to follow, though she seemed to have significantly less trouble with the task, making it seem trivial in retrospect. They straightened themselves up, then began to descend the winding natural staircase that wrapped around the perimeter of the cavern. "By the way," said Azide. "I should probably ask what your name is. Your mom didn't say, but she did show me a picture earlier."

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the appearance of a second bat. She looked up, spotting what'd seemed like another giant bat at first, but simply turned out to be a normal bat that was somewhat close to them.

He motioned for her to begin descending the stairway with a bit more speed. "Just watch your step though. I didn't come all this way for you to trip and fall because you weren't careful," he remarked, drawing his blade. The bat came flying at his head, but missed and slammed into the wall. Taking the opportunity to deal some easy damage, Azide impaled the creature with his blade, then flung it off against the opposite side of the cavern wall.

ID: 10964

BD: 7 (-1)(+3) = 9 (Hit)

MD: 7 (-2) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Bat) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

After successfully putting some distance between himself and the bat, he began to descend the stairs as quickly as possible and closed the distance between himself and the girl. "You kids sure do have a lot of energy," he remarked. He found himself rather impressed by her agility somewhere as depressing and dark as this.

"My mom says it's because I eat a lot of sugar," he replied. "She says I'm always bouncing around everywhere, so she doesn't let me eat too many cookies anymore, but I still sneak them sometimes," she added. She covered her mouth. "You won't tell her, will you?" she asked, realizing that the player happened to actually know her mom.

He laughed, shaking his head. "That's between you and your mom. But if you ask me, sweet stuff is just way too sweet for me." He ducked as the bat came gunning for him once more, dodging it yet again, although failing to connect his swing for a second time.

ID: 10965

BD: 2 (Miss)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Miss)

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 9/18

[Azide 0]

"Damn it," he thought, swinging and missing yet again. This time, it seemed as if his blade had been leagues away from the creature. "That's three strikes in a row. Three strikes and I'm out. But I do happen to be taking shots in the dark here, so I suppose it's to be expected. But still, I haven't missed this many times in succession in ages." He blocked the creature's aerial charge with the flat of his blade, then knocked it aside, sending it into a temporary retreat. Buying himself a bit more time, he was finally able to catch up with the girl at the base of the stairs, having reached the ground floor of the cavern. The entrance he'd entered through earlier could be seen ahead, though he'd still have to deal with the bat first. "Just let me wrap things up here, then we'll get a move on."

ID: 10966

BD: 1 (Miss)

MD: 6 (-2 Accuracy) = 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 9/18

[Azide 0]

The girl nodded, making him feel content to turn around and face the bat properly. "You don't have anywhere to run here," he spoke. "On the ground, I'm not limited to empty swings." And with that, he made a mad dash towards the hovering creature, glad to have more room to work with this time around. "It's rather hard to fight a flying creature while restricted by silly little things like stairs," he reflected. In any case, he managed to dodge the creature's paltry attempt at a counter attack, evading its fangs with more than enough time and room to spare. Finally, his blade met flesh, slicing the creature in half. It shattered, leaving behind crafting material and a bit of col, both of which he collected.

He turned to face the girl, then walked over to the entrance and gestured for her to follow. "Let's get moving," he called. They stepped into the narrow passage and began making their way through. "By the way, I didn't get to hear your name back there," he started to say.

"My name's Hikari," she answered. "In my father's language, it means light."

ID: 10968

BD: 8 (Hit)

MD: 1 (Miss)

LD: 16 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Bat) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 5 (Skills) = 9

Azide HP: 30/30

Bat HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (4 materials acquired, total).

**HP (18) * 5 = 90 col acquired (330 col acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

"Hikari..." he repeated slowly. "Light? I think that's more than appropriate. A place like this could use a little light, after all," he remarked. He chuckled, scratching his head. "But on second thought, that light probably shouldn't be you. He recognized the name as being oriental in origin although he hadn't expected to heart such a name from this particular girl. Her mother had looked quite western, after all, but he hadn't considered what her father might look like. "Then again, I do happen to be playing a game developed in Japan. I should've expected it, really." As they traveled through the narrow corridor, he darted his eyes around in search for any materials he might be able to take back to the lab, but found nothing. It was simply too dark here. And yet, the exit was quickly approaching. "We're almost out," he said, looking down at the little girl.

ID: 10972

LD: 8 (Nothing found)