"So quiet... Why is it so quiet here?" Davorin mumbled.
He was drifting through his subconscious.
Voices one male and one female echoed in his mind. And then, he saw himself as a child.
"Heyyyy, Davorin! Come on! You can do it!"
The voice sounded familiar to Davorin.
"Wait... that's me, when I was a kid. Isn't that the day I won the soccer match when I was twelve?" he muttered in confusion.
"Huh? What's that dark shadow hugging me while I'm holding the trophy? I don't remember seeing two shadows back then..." he said, puzzled.
"That's my boy! You're amazing!" said one of the shadowy figures hugging young Davorin.
"Mommy's proud of you. You're the best," said the other shadow.
"Huh? Dad? Mom? But... they died in a car accident when I was five," Davorin whispered in disbelief.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head,it felt like being struck with a hammer.
Davorin's eyes snapped open. Above him stretched a calm night sky filled with stars and a face he recognized immediately.
"Senpai! Senpai, thank goodness you're okay!" Georgia cried as she hugged him tightly.
"I'm glad you're safe too, Georgia," Davorin replied, returning her hug.
Lena smiled faintly at the two of them.
"Pretty impressive, Davorin. You made a decision that quickly in a situation like that," she said.
"I really thought you were dead, kid. And... thanks for earlier," Garran added gruffly.
"Oh wow, you can say thank you, huh, old man? Hehehe..." Davorin teased.
"Shut it, little kid!" Garran muttered as he walked away.
"So what exactly happened back there? Where did those damn RedCaps go? And where are we now? Why are we suddenly in a village like this? Damn it, why does everything happen when I'm unconscious?" Davorin asked Lena.
Lena started explaining. "Calm down, let me break it down. Right after the device showed 'Objective Complete', black shadowy hands appeared and pulled the RedCaps into the darkness. I'm guessing that was Arbiter's doing. As for why we're in this village well, the objective told us to run here while we were being chased."
"And check your device, Davorin."
Davorin quickly pulled out his device. A reward notification popped up for completing the objective, along with a new mission.
"A reward? And this damn countdown again," he grumbled.
MISSION COMPLETE: ESCAPE FROM REDCAPS
PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING WEAPONS:
•Greatsword
•Longsword
•Dagger
•Dual Daggers
•Dual Longswords
•Bow and 20 Arrows
•Crossbow and 20 Bolts
•Round Shield
•Knuckles
BONUS REWARDS – CHOOSE TWO:
•Leather Armor
•Leather Gloves
•Leather Boots
•Backpack
•Water Bottle, 2 Apples
NEW OBJECTIVE:
DEFEND THE VILLAGE
TIME UNTIL START: 6 DAYS 12 HOURS
"Hmph... This is all we get after risking our lives like that?" Davorin complained.
"Hey, at least we're getting weapons. Better than nothing," Lena replied.
"Yeah, yeah… complaining won't change anything," Davorin sighed.
"Oh, right Georgia, what weapon are you picking?"
"Hmm... Honestly, I'm not sure, Senpai. Do you have any suggestions?"
"If I remember right, you're pretty good at archery sport, right? Why not take the bow? I think it suits you. And for bonus rewards, grab the leather armor and the water bottle with the apples. They'll come in handy later," Davorin suggested.
Georgia thought for a moment. "Alright, Senpai. I'll follow your advice," she said with a smile.
"What about you? What weapon are you picking?"
Davorin paused, deep in thought.
"Georgia already took the bow, so I'll go with a melee weapon. Let's see… the greatsword's too heavy and would wear me out in a fight. The round shield is good for defense, but doesn't deal much damage. Daggers and knuckles have short range. Hmm… the longsword might be the best option. Actually, since I'm pretty good with both hands, dual longswords could work out well," he thought to himself.
"I think I'll go with dual longswords. Besides, I've got you watching my back, Georgia," Davorin said, looking at her.
Georgia blushed. "Senpai, don't tease me like that..."
Ahem! "You two seem to be in your own little world, huh?" Lena interrupted, teasing them.
"Oh uh, right. Lena, what weapon did you pick? Hehe..." Davorin chuckled.
"Ugh... Since I'm not exactly built for strength, I went with the crossbow. As for Garran, he picked the greatsword. Even though he's grumpy, he's actually pretty strong," Lena replied.
"Looks like we've got two melee fighters and two ranged supports. That's a balanced team. And I think Garran's reliable, even if he's rough around the edges. One more melee attacker would make us even better," Davorin analyzed.
After they chose the weapons they wanted, the weapons suddenly materialized directly from their Devices.
Suddenly, someone approached them.
"Hey... Are you Davorin?" the person asked.
"Yeah, I'm Davorin. What do you want from me?" Davorin said.
"Well, first of all, let me introduce myself. My name's Logan Prince. As you can probably tell from my outfit, I'm a black-belt karate expert. I'd like to join your group, if that's okay," Logan said.
"Oh, I don't mind, but I'll need to get Lena and Georgia's approval first," Davorin replied.
"Hey, don't forget about me, kid!" Garran shouted.
"And his approval too," Davorin added, pointing at Garran.
"I'm fine with it, senpai. The more people we have, the stronger we'll be," Georgia said.
"Yeah, I'm cool with it," Lena said.
"Do whatever you want," Garran muttered.
"All right, it's settled then. Welcome to the team. I guess we'll be fighting together soon anyway," Davorin said.
"Good. I'd rather be here than with those weaklings who do nothing but complain and give up," Logan scoffed, glancing at the crowd.
David looked over at the survivors. They looked hopeless, completely resigned to their fate.
Davorin thought" I can't"t really blame them Getting suddenly thrown into a place like this and watching your friends or family get slaughtered "
"Oh right, I almost forgot, what weapon did you take, Logan?" asked Davorin.
"Well, I'm not exactly skilled with a bow or a sword, but I trust my fists. So, I took a pair of knuckles," Logan replied.
"Hmm, looks like this party is strong enough." Davorin thought to himself.
"Alright, everyone, listen up," said Davorin.
Georgia, Lena, Logan, and Garran moved closer to him.
"What do you want to say, kid?" Garran asked, stepping toward Davorin.
"Turns out you're more cooperative than I expected, old man," Davorin replied.
"Just get to the point already kid!" Garran said.
"Alright, alright. We need to figure out our next move. I'm sure there's going to be more chaos coming, and we need to gather more information of this objective," Davorin said.