Hades, Ares, and Thanatos strode over to the destroyed portion of the crops. "Say, Ares. What exactly are these harpy monsters? Have you seen them yet?" Hades crouched down to examine the crushed plants scattered on the ground. They looked like they had been torn out of the ground, and a large amount of them seemed half eaten.
Thanatos stayed standing upright, keeping on hand on the pommel of his sword, while his eyes flit back and forth as he watched for any possible danger.
Ares followed Hades' lead, crouching down beside his friend. "The harpies are monsters with the heads of women and the bodies of large birds." As Hades was about to open his mouth, Ares, realizing what his friend wanted to ask, responded quickly, forestalling the question. "I didn't get to see what level they were, so I don't know how strong they are yet."
"Alright. Then how do we start the mission?" The two players stood up at the same time, Hades brushing the dirt off his clothes. He marveled once again at the realistic feeling of the virtual world. He could feel the dirt beneath his fingers, and when he examined the crushed crops, he could feel the uneven roughness of the plant's roots and leaves.
"I think we just wait here until the harpies show up?" Ares shrugged slightly. He wasn't really one for plans and strategies. Usually his main strategy was to just bash and/or slice away his problems. He almost always maxed out his strength stats wherever possible when playing rpg games.
Suddenly a loud screech drew their attention, as the shadows passed overhead. Thanatos immediately drew his sword, moving quickly to stand between the three harpies and Hades. Ares drew his sword and rushed for the monsters, without bothering to come up with a plan. Hades soon had Thanatos follow Ares into battle, activating his Poisonous Fog skill to create a cloud of smoke around him that would discourage the harpies from coming after him. After all, Hades did not have a weapon.
Most players were given a starter weapon based on their class. For example, Ares was given a large broadsword, mages might be given a magical staff, and archers might be given bows or crossbows. As a necromancer, Hades was supposed to rely on his summons to fight for him, which was a bit annoying.
The three monsters dove at the armored fighters, two going after Thanatos and the last going for Ares. They seemed to be fairly low leveled, since their talons barely scratched the duo's armor. Hades let himself relax upon seeing this.
As Ares turned towards Hades, he couldn't help letting out an offended shout. "Hey! You should at least help out a little!" Hades shrugged. "I don't have a weapon. What do you expect me to do? Besides, you're doing just fine."
Ares returned to the battle with a sigh. He couldn't exactly fault his friend for getting a class that didn't come with a starter weapon, and Thanatos was easily dealing with the other two harpies anyways.
[Quest Completed]
The system notification appeared once the three harpies had been defeated. The old man approached the three, a smile visible on his face. "Ah, you've successfully defeated them. Thank you very much!"
"Old Man Phineas!" The two who were fighting the monsters each sheathed their blades and moved to walk towards the old man. Ares held a fist to his chest as he declared proudly, "The monsters have been defeated. You are safe to go harvest your crops now."
Meanwhile, Hades was near the three harpy corpses. He wanted to test out one of his new skills, called Revive Undead. Since there was three monsters, he decided to first level up the skill to level 3.
[Use 3 Potential Points to Lvl 3?]
"Yes."
Hades then held his hand out above the three harpies. "Revive Undead." The sword wounds in the three monsters began to close, and the bodies began to shake and stood up. With a yelp, Hades jumped back, attracting the attention of the others.
[Undead Harpy, The Fury, wishes to initiate a contract with you.]
[Undead Harpy, The Fury, wishes to initiate a contract with you.]
[Undead Harpy, The Fury, wishes to initiate a contract with you.]
Three new messages appeared before Hades in quick succession. As he quickly accepted, the three undead harpies took off, beginning to circle above him at a height where they looked like normal birds from below.
"So uh, what was that?" Ares approached Hades, craning his neck to stare up at the previously dead trio of monsters. "I'm a necromancer, remember?"
Thanatos moved to his proper place by Hades' side and together they headed off. Ares began to explain the rewards Phineas had given him. In Olympus Reborn, quests didn't always give out the same rewards. Sometimes it depended on how well the player did, and other times it depended on the player's relationship with the quest giver. Some quests could not be repeated, and most of the time, time limited quests were a one chance thing.
Because Ares had been friendly with the old man, and because they had gotten rid of the harpies quickly, Phineas had given them a map that supposedly would lead to a great treasure. Comparing it to their maps though, the treasure was in an area of much higher leveled monsters, so they wouldn't be able to retrieve the treasure just yet. Of course, there was also a small amount of exp given to them by the system when they completed the quest.
Ares put the treasure back in his inventory as Hades issued an order to his new minions. "Undead Harpies. Please scout ahead of us and warn us if a strong enemy appears." The three undead soared ahead in compliance. "Where to next?" Ares opened up his map. Hades spoke up, an idea popping into his head. "Oh! I wanted to go to check out a big city. Let's see, the nearest one to us is Delos City. Sounds fun."
"Then, let's go!" Ares agreed immediately. The three retrieved their horses and set off for the city.