247Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQ0pVLpKmy
Sugo logged into ALO with a sense of relief. She hoped the other world would give her the escapism she needed after what could only be considered a frustrating day. The tournament had been an abysmal failure. She'd lost in the very first round of the preliminaries. She couldn't even say that she'd lost to a good opponent. Sure, he had been good enough to make a showing but he was in no way at her caliber. He'd lost in the very next round quick and with little grace. No, she'd just been sloppy and distracted. Her lack of focus was obvious to everyone including her sensei.
Why was she letting the good news that all the people still alive in Aincrad were free making her feel this depressed? Everyone was celebrating. The news was full of pictures of the player's happy tears as they hugged their reunited loved ones. Why? Why couldn't she share in their happiness?
Logically she knew the answer. Kazuto wasn't among them, and never could have been. He'd died two years ago and all she could do was mourn. After two years she'd thought she'd finally accepted his death, and the emptiness that came with it. But the rest of the prisoners becoming free from the cell of that detested game had ripped the scab off cruelly.
She knew she wasn't the only person who had to relive the depression of their loved ones who had passed. Fleeing to another world was so much easier than dealing with the pain.
There was a flashing notification icon when she logged in. Just because it was distracting she clicked on it. What popped up was a world quest. What caught her attention first was the picture next to the quest text. The woman in the picture was stunning. Red hair down to her butt of the most beautiful hue, with fair skin that looked to have no blemishes. Her face was more expressive than any NPC she'd ever seen, but what really caught her attention was her wings. They weren't of any race she'd ever met.
Her interest piqued, Leefa quickly read the quest's text.
"People of Alfheim I, your King Oberon, require your assistance. Lillith, an Alf of evil intent, has escaped her cell at the world tree and is now on the run. She is both deadly and treacherous. Last seen she had assumed the form of my queen Titania. Do not fall for her lies, for that is all she speaks. Having escaped her life is now forfeit and the one whose blade takes it will be lavishly rewarded.
Quest Rewards:
10,000,000 yrd 247Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Uykwa1yL6
1 full set of god-tier armor 247Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiIwxsfJcF
Automatic elevation to the Alf race at max level."
Leefa wasn't impressed with the quest text. It was a basic kill quest text she didn't expect that much from. What did catch her interest was the rewards. Each reward was better than the last. Her legs literally lost all strength when she read the final reward: "automatic elevation to the Alf race." She fell to the ground dumbfounded.
Alf's were the dream race. A combination of all the best traits of all the races. But most importantly to Leefa, they could fly forever. The possibility that she could achieve it became all-consuming in the blink of an eye. Even the thoughts of her brother were not enough to intrude. Or maybe it was because of her brother that it had consumed her. This was the distraction she needed from her pain.
It didn't matter why the game admins had made such a bland quest. All that mattered is she had a mission now.
That the rewards were so high meant the challenge was going to be equal. First and foremost she would have to be the first to reach and defeat her. Finding her first would be near impossible. She wasn't sure at first how she would accomplish it beyond pure luck. The quest text gave no clue on where to look beyond where she started, the world tree.
Finding Lillith required planning, so she tried to logic it out. If the game logic was equal to real logic Lillith couldn't be even halfway to the mountains at Leefa's max speed. If all that is true then that limits where on the map she could be, but that was still a huge area. And again, that assumes the game follows real-world logic and she didn't just spawn at a random point on the map. She would start her search on the outer edge of the search radius closest to her. It's the best chance she had.
She bet this npc would also be one of the hardest bosses out there. That, at least, she thought she had a trump card with Lambent Shadow in her possession. That it cut through anything would make whatever hit points Lillith had irrelevant. A lost arm is a lost arm. A lost head was still death.
She could feel a sense of destiny. That such a weapon fell into her hands this close to the kill quest couldn't have been a coincidence, could it? She had the best chance over anyone in the game to win a fight with Lillith no matter how strong she was. Hopefully that meant she also had the best chance of finding her first. Her rational mind dismissed the possibility, but the rest of her locked on to it and wouldn't let go.
God, she hated kill quests, but for those rewards she would do it. And even more, the distraction made it necessary for her sanity.
The one good thing is only the one who lays the final blow is the one who gets the rewards. That meant no groups were likely to form to finish it. Even friends would be hard-pressed to work together.
That said, she had something better than a friend who would help her. With a twitch of her wrist and a quick tap of her fingers she brought up her friends list and tapped on Lostone's name.
"Yeah luv?"
"Don't give me that. You're already looking for Lillith aren't you?"
She heard a low chuckle in her head. "Well yeah. And you are too."
"I only just logged on, but yes. Wanna join forces?"
"Ummm... I love you dear but only one of us gets the loot."
"Duh," Teefa said dismissively, "and an equal amount of duh that if you let me have the final hit I'll give you the yrd and armor. All I want is the elevation."
A loud laugh this time. "I'm shocked to hear that," he said sarcastically
A first real laugh escaped her lips in days. "Riiiiiiight. So you in?"
"Naturally."
Nodding to him, even if he couldn't see it, she gave him the map coordinates to meet her.
Now it was just a race to find her against the rest of the players. If Rect Progress wanted to bring some life back to the game they certainly found it. Both old players and new were going to be crawling all over the map in hopes of finding her.
Finding his wife had somehow escaped her cage, and worse managed to hide from all of the searches available to him, had infuriated Oberon. He'd been unable to see through the rage. It was only that everything was indestructible in his area that kept the world tree in one piece. The staff and NPC's that came within his line of sight were not so lucky. The NPC's in particular died in the most gruesome ways he could think of. The staff, unfortunately, he needed too much to scare away
Oberon smiled to himself. Perhaps this was better. She may have escaped, but she was still in his world. He was certain of that. And when she is inevitably killed by a player she'll be back in the cage she belonged in, and her will to fight him will be crushed. She will be his in mind and heart in the same way she was already his in body.Fly as far as you can Titania. You won't escape me for long.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
