It's A Mark
Smultronstället
Shishi let an impatient sigh for what must’ve been the millionth time in the last ten minutes, his foot tapping a steady yet furious beat on the tiled floor of their guild headquarters. “He should’ve been here already.” He grumbled finally.
“Calm down, would you?” Joko replied irritably, wishing that their leader would learn to have a little more patience with things - especially when it came to waiting for their other members to arrive. “I’m sure Toto is just taking a breather before he gets on. It was his first day back at school you know...”
All movements paused at that and Shishi slid a glare at the mage, “It was all of our first days back.” He stated, tone implying he didn’t see the importance of it. And he didn’t.
“But...” Dada started quietly from his spot on the couch where he’d been checking to make sure he had everything he needed for their next mission, not wanting to piss off the other any more than he was, “It was his first at high school as a freshman...”
Shishi opened his mouth to reply and then promptly closed it, “... whatever...” He mumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, silently reprimanding himself for forgetting about Toto being a freshman.
Keke blinked at their leader, rolling his eyes upwards at him before turning back to Dada and helping him with the inventory. “We need more potions...” He mumbled, checking his personal inventory. “I only have a few - Joko, how are the funds for the guild?” Keke looked over at the yellow-loving avatar who immediately pulled up a screen and checked through it.
Once he said they were good, Keke stood, shoving his kunais into their holders on his belt, “I’m going to buy some more potions.” He was gone before anyone could say anything else.
Tats shook his head at the ninja-esque avatar, simply plopping into the spot he’d left beside Dada. “I’m kind of worried about Toto though... he’s usually on by now - even back during his last school term he was on by now.” He leaned back and waited, worry eating at him.
It wasn’t long before the door to their guild opened up and Toto walked in, his head down a little sheepishly. “I’m sorry I’m late - I got the message that you found another strong leveled location, so I wanted to get my homework and chores done. I’m here for the rest of the night!” He smiled slightly, his eyes especially on Shishi.
Tats stood and grabbed Toto’s shoulders, “How did your day go?” He was hoping to hear good news.
Toto’s expression changed to uncomfort, shifting side to side some. “Eh... the usual freshman pranks, pretty much. But it was okay.” He nodded his head.
Dada immediately walked over to their youngest member and enveloped him into a tight but comforting hug. “I’m sorry they pranked you, To.” He murmured, pulling away from him and giving him a sheepish smile. “I got pranked today too and I’m not even a freshman!” He said, voice full of exasperation.
“It’s a shame when not even the higher years are safe. High school really is hell on earth.” Joko sighed, shaking his head at how nonsensical it all was. He smiled softly at Toto then, “I’m glad your day went well though. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.” He nodded.
“Yeah!” Dada agreed enthusiastically.
“Before we get all greeting card-esque in here, may I remind everyone that Toto needs to prepare for the mission?” Shishi finally murmured, having chosen to come out of his reverie at that moment due to the saccharine sweet words of praise coming from Tats, Joko and Dada. Sensing a possible upheaval, especially from the loose-lipped Joko, he slid a lazy look at the mage then, “Didn’t you say you found out something about that book too, Joko?” He drawled.
Joko bit back the nasty reply he’d been ready to say at the question, eyes lighting up with realization as he pulled said book out. “Ah yes! I did in fact.” He nodded, gesturing to the book in his hands, “When you use this book it can teach you a new ability called ‘Lightning Grasp’ which takes quite a bit of damage out of your opponent when you touch them during battle. It’s not an incredibly rare ability but you either have to have this book or pay a nice amount of money for it.” He explained, adding, “The only drawback is that you have to be a certain level to use it but you’re only a couple of levels away from the goal so you won’t have to wait long.” He smiled happily.
“In the meantime, it might be best if you put it in the guild’s vault, Toto.” Shishi murmured, “Rare, uncommon or otherwise, it wouldn’t be a good idea to carry it around with you while you level up.”
Toto slid his gaze over to Shishi who seemed nonchalant about the news of his day, but he knew the other would eventually break and say something encouraging - he always had before. He accepted the book from Joko, looking at it with a bright smile. The new ability sounded really cool - he couldn’t wait to level up enough to where he could use it. He gave Tats, Dada and Joko a smile before walking to the corner where the guild’s vault was, opening it and sticking the book inside of it before opening his screen and checking his stats to prepare for their mission.
It wasn’t long after that Keke finally came back, an inventory stock full of potions and other medicines they’d be needing, quite glad he’d researched the enemies in the location they were headed. “From the research I did, there are some enemies who can blind us with some kind of poison, so I got some medicinal potions for that,” Keke explained, storing away all of the items before he glanced around.
“Well... since everyone is here now - are we going?” Keke asked, his eyes on Shishi by the end of his question.
Shishi gave a curt nod in response and pushed himself off from the wall, making his way over to the group. “Come on, we’ll have to use the navigation portal because we’ve never been to the location before.” He explained, not giving anyone a chance to say anything as he began walking out of the guild’s HQ.
“He must be really excited...” Dada murmured thoughtfully, jumping slightly when he was fixed with the curious stares of his teammates.
“How so?” Joko questioned, eyebrow raised.
Dada bit his lip, “Umm... because he was in such a hurry?” He tried, chuckling nervously.
Joko slapped his forehead and sighed, “Yeah... I’m sure that’s exactly it, Dada...” He grumbled as he shook his head and motioned for the others to hurry up and catch up with Shishi.
—
“A desert? We have a mission in the desert?” Dada asked, blinking rapidly as he studied his surroundings. It was a vast area filled with nothing but pure golden sand, rock formations and the occasional bit of vegetation. The sun that shone so brightly in the sky overhead made them all more than a little glad that it was artificial.
Joko bit back his comment of ‘what part of Westersand didn’t you understand?’ and instead looked to their leader. “Should I make a map for us or do you want to just wing it?”
Shishi was quiet for a few moments as he contemplated the area before finally nodding, “Go ahead. From what I heard, the area where we’re supposed to go is going to take us awhile to navigate as it is because you can’t use a mapping spell in it. I don’t really cherish spending most of our time out here slaying weak monsters and using up all of our supplies.”
“Alright then. One map coming right up.” Joko closed his eyes and muttered something underneath his breath before tapping the end of his staff three times against the ground. A bright light quickly spread out from where the staff had tapped and soon enough they all had a detailed map of the area.
Toto looked at Joko as he concentrated on doing his mapping spell, rolling his eyes upwards some. The brainiac liked to show off his powers and such - it was often a joke between the six of them to pick on the poor guy. Then again, they often picked on one another for something small and silly like that. He didn’t mind that kind of teasing, because it was mutual - but he couldn’t stand the treatment he’d gotten in school today. He sighed softly and shook his head when Dada looked at him questioningly, simply watching as the map slowly constructed on their screens.
“Ah, looks like the cave is to the west,” Keke muttered, closing his screen. Once everyone agreed with the direction, they began walking, only stopping to battle a couple of low level monsters. “Man, this is boring,” Tats grumbled as he sliced through another low level monster, putting away his rapier with a heavy sigh. Toto instantly looked down, a little ashamed that he hadn’t been able to level up and he was essentially holding everyone back.
Keke looked over at Toto and gave Tats a raised eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with the mission - it’s good experience for all of us, at least we’re not having to put a lot of effort into it anyways.” Keke nodded, silencing anyone else’s protests. Tats shot Toto an apologetic look, not bothering to say anything else as Shishi silenced them with a loud “shush” as they neared a cave entrance.
“This is it!” Shishi announced, seeming quite proud.
“Um... you never did tell us why we’re even coming to this place anyways,” Tats pointed out, giving Shishi a blank, uninterested stare.
Shishi was quiet for a minute or so, his eyes scanning the mouth of the cavern with an excitement that the others knew only came when there was a battle to be fought soon. This realization immediately put them on edge even more so than coming to a new area had. The swordsman had a penchant for taking them on missions that were rather tough even if they were at the recommended level.
“I answered an ad on the board at the bar that someone had posted. They want us to slay a Marilith and collect its musk for wine which is supposed to be a cure-all for status effects.” Shishi explained finally, straightening up to look at the group.
“You mean...” Dada started, voice more than a little nervous as he shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s a mark.” Joko finished dryly, not even bothering to hide his lack of enthusiasm for this mission now that he knew what they were here for. “You signed us up for a mark.” He repeated, voice now filling with irritation. Marks, even the ones made specifically for the game, were notorious for being quite dangerous. Granted, you received a load of rewards from slaying the monster and then twice that once you reported back to the person who posted the request, but the equation never quite balanced considering all the trouble you put into it.
Shishi sniffed slightly and crossed his arms over his chest, “Yes, I did.” He replied, obviously not finding a problem with it at all.
“Toto and Dada, especially Toto, aren’t levelled up enough to take on a mark like this. You know that we have to be at least three levels higher than the recommended level in order to come out of this relatively unscathed!” Joko ground out.
Shishi narrowed his eyes, “Toto and Dada will be fine. They are both capable of handling themselves. Besides, we need this because of the gold we’re going to receive from it. Our guild funds are nowhere near where they usually are because we’ve been playing it safe by doing easier missions. You know this better than anyone, Joko.”
Joko opened his mouth to respond and then promptly shut it, looking away from their leader. He hated to admit that Shishi was right but he was. If they didn’t find some way to bring up the guild funds soon then they were going to be stuck selling off whatever they could to bring the amount up enough just to do one mission.
“We’ll be okay, Joko.” Dada offered, smiling brightly even though his voice trembled ever so slightly. “Right, To?” He asked the young robot.
Upon hearing that it was a mark, Tats frowned heavily and was about to drill into Shishi’s head that they had two lower leveled members that wouldn’t be able to handle the mission when Joko jumped in first, obviously just as pissed as himself. He crossed his arms as Joko admitted defeat silently and Dada spoke up saying that it would be fine. All eyes fell on Toto afterwards, wondering what he would say - though they pretty much already knew. Toto agreed with everything Shishi said, the boy was known for being quite the little fanboy of the eldest male - which Shishi played off of a lot.
“Of course we’ll be alright!” Toto laughed, walking closer to the mouth of the cave, “Shishi would never lead us astray, you know.” He beamed happily, “Come on you guys, let’s go and get this over with so we can do another mission!”
Tats sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Fine, fine - come on, let’s go...”
Keke stopped them and came up with the suggestion to keep Dada and Toto in the middle of the group with him and Joko taking the back while Shishi and Tats took the front, that way the strength was evenly distributed while also making sure to keep Dada and Toto protected (much to Toto’s chagrin).
While in front, Tats leaned over to Shishi, “Yah, punk - you and I are going to have a talk after this mission is through,” He hissed, his eyes narrowed at the fiery leader. He wasn’t going to stand for Shishi taking advantage of Toto’s admiration for him and Dada’s desire to keep the peace amongst everyone by agreeing to things he otherwise wouldn’t.
Shishi fixed the other male with a bored look as they continued making their way through the cave, already knowing what the other wanted to talk about but he was unable to resist asking anyway, “About what, pray tell?” He questioned, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn’t hear them. Not that it really mattered, Toto and Dada were talking about the latter’s newest addition to his collection of odd trinkets and useless items while Joko and Keke were rechecking their supplies.
Before the other could respond, however, the sickening slap of something wet hitting the sand reached their ears and they all turned to come face to face with a Slime. The group all gave the gooey green monster a uniform grimace before quickly getting to work on slaying it.
“I hate Slimes...” Joko grumbled lowly as he shook some green fluid from his staff, a disgusted shudder running down his spine.
“My arrows never work on it...” Dada sighed, a small pout on his face. “All they do is get stuck inside...”
“There’ll be plenty more enemies further in the cave, Dada. You’ll get your turn to fight then.” Shishi nodded, flicking the slime off his own blade nonchalantly before slipping it back into the holster on his back. He gestured to a tunnel entrance then, “There’s a passage there so let’s go that way.”
Comments