Task 1: Find a white cherry blossom.
'That shouldn't be too hard, the forest shouldn't be that big.' I thought to myself while climbing up a tree. I was wrong. The forest was huge.
That makes the job harder.
Whatever, Hoshi never gave me a time limit. It was seeming like a pretty leisure task, just looking for a flower on a tree? No twists or turns? If this is what this quest is like it should be a piece of c-
A rock hit me in the head. I looked around, I guess I was assuming that no one else was there. What did that dumbass call this place again? The Forest of Robbers? The Forest of Robins?
I got in a battle stance. Ever since I got to this new world, I feel like my senses have been heightened and I had more strength than before. I prepared for something small to come out of the bushes that I saw the stone get thrown from.
Instead, a group of samurai appeared from behind some trees. Oh right, it was the Forest of RONINS. These guys would be pretty dangerous, it would be a challenge taking on one of them with the power I have, let alone 4. There was something off about these guys though, three of them were very scared, and they had a smell of weakness on them. I quickly took care of them because they didn't have good armor. The last one though had a different smell and different look to him. He was out to kill me, I remembered a term that Hoshi had taught me about back when we were partners, "bloodlusted", people with the desire to kill. He definitely gave that trait to some NPCs. This guy was out to kill me. I welcomed the challenge though. Grabbing the katana of his knocked-out comrade to fight him with.
In a flash, he started charging at me. I barely had time to block his strike. He tried again, and again, and again. The same way every time, head-on with his full force, no direction with his shots. I found these guys' weaknesses. They become very strong at the expense of their strategic thinking. From there, it was easy to make a strategy to win. I waited patiently before I saw his charge once more. He swung with all his force, I span around him and he lost his footing with nothing to stop his sword. Now, on all fours with his back faced towards me, I had a choice to make. Either A, I kill him now and get it over with, or B, I let him live as he continues to try to kill me.
I left all four swords with their owners. Three of them were neatly placed next to their respective warriors, and one stuck in the back of the other one.
For what seemed like months, I came across many more of those groups with those bloodlusted NPCs, and every single time my hands grew dirtier with their blood. It took a toll on me, however, I felt myself growing stronger from it.
I had just finished wiping out a small group when I saw a mountain in the distance. It was a towering and imposing figure among those trees with a gray base and snowy white, wispy polar caps on the top. Above all else, it had specks of pink in some areas. Finally, I could be done with this stupid task.
The closer I got, the more discouraged I became. Why was it so tall? I sadly climbed up. It must have been a few weeks before I got to an area with the right trees. Then it hit me, these were all pink. I needed to find a white cherry blossom. I saw a cave. Deciding it would be a nice place to sleep in. When I crawled into it, I realized the pungent smell that filled the room. The algae dimly lit the room, I saw a white cherry blossom tree in the middle of a moat. Around it though, was a long white snake. That explains where the smell was coming from.
Great, a new enemy to fight. Was this a boss fight? As I was thinking about how I would tackle this, I felt a dry and scaly sensation around my body. He had already circled me. That was a boon. It meant that he wasn't venomous because of how he was attacking me and that I didn't need to move to chop off his head. I lifted my stolen sword and struck. However, when I made contact, it broke. Shit.
That makes it much harder, the more I felt him slowly constricting me, the more I noticed how metallic his skin was. I tried to get loose but all that I could get was my arm. It started to crush my ribs. Without thinking, I punched its' eye. It recoiled and slithered away from me only to turn back at me and try again. I made a mad dash for the tree and plucked a cherry blossom off of it. The snake was about to wrap around me before it froze and fell onto the floor. Its silk white body turns to a dull gray.
Above me, a notification appeared.
Task 1 Complete:
Reward: D+ Rep
Continue to Task 2?
I clicked yes and started to teleport somewhere else.