Special Case and Party

[Persona Quest - Novice PK]

In order to manifest the privileged player's Persona, Salana the Scarlet Fox of the Forsaken Duelist, and upgrade her rank, the privileged player must first prove himself of being in tune and worthy to possess Salana as your Persona.

Commit PK successfully: 0/10

Gain a valuable item through PK: 0/1

Quest Reward: Persona Upgrade Ticket, Lucky Player Hunter title, and 3,000 Gold.

Upon achieving level 20, as Salana said, he unlocked the Persona Quest.

Since he has the Limited PK VR Helmet, this kind of quest is already expected. Of course, the requirement to complete the quest would be revolving around PK, as it's the main thing for Salana.

'PK 10 players successfully? It should be easy if I can bully low-level players'

Glancing to the side, Blake can find Salana has a sweet wide smile on her face, looking at him as if she was a fan. But of course, she was only doing this just to make him finish the Persona Quest quickly.

Refocusing back on the two women, he finds Tara is giving a look at Linthia.

"It's okay, Tara. He's our savior, the least I could do is to tell him my real name" Linthia said positively, she was not going to be impolite and let Blake call her using her fake name instead of her real name.

While the two were bickering slightly, Blake has something else in mind.

'Hmm... the quest told me that I would gain NPC Bonus. I don't know exactly what that means but it should be any items that the NPC I helped will give to me' Blake thought, expecting something from the two.

Just then, he realized that the two women are looking at him.

Seeing that Blake didn't seem to answer her question, Linthia can only smile wryly.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us your name, we'll respect your privacy and won't ask further" Linthia said dejectedly, she was really expecting to know the name of her savior but she can't be forceful.

Blake then realized that she asked about his name, he didn't hear it earlier.

'Will it be weird if I told her my name is MoonDespoiler? It's my game tag, and that name should act as an identifier for players. But the NPCs might be programmed to not find it weird if my name is MoonDespolier like Dianis from the avatar creation menu'

Pondering for a moment, Blake then eventually decided to tell his real name.

Since Linthia told him her real name, then he would respect it by also telling her his real name, "I'm sorry, I have something in mind earlier. You can call me Blake, nice to meet you, Linthia"

Upon hearing this, Linthia's spirit lifted as she clasped her hands together.

"It should be the other way around, Sir Blake" She replied with a huge smile on her face.

After introducing themselves, Tara stepped forward and reaches something on her neck. Upon seeing this, Blake was on edge but he soon finds that she was only taking off her necklace which she then gives to him.

"Might not be much, but this is a token of appreciation from us" Tara said politely.

Receiving the necklace, he thanked her for it.

Inspected the black necklace with a black star pendant, a prompt from the system appeared suddenly, showing him the information about the black necklace that he was curious to know.

[Serene of Black]

Level: 25

Grade: C

Item Quality: Excellent (150/150)

Stat Increase: +40 Agility

Item Skill: Ninja Step (5 MP/ Second)

Description: Serene of Black is a captivating black necklace, a dear friend to any assassin. It has a magical property that will boost the wearer's mobility and is also able to muffle the sound of steps and make them lighter, allowing the wearer to avoid alerting enemies or traps.

Blake was quite pleased with this Serene of Black item.

Not only is it the best item that he currently has, but it also has a skill engraved in it. It's not a bad skill either, he could use this in the near future. 'If I use this necklace, completing the Persona Quest will be way easier. Without them being able to notice me, then it should be easy pickings'

Just as he was about to bid his goodbye and part ways, Tara suddenly stopped him.

"Wait!"

"Hmm...?"

Blake raised one of his eyebrows in question, the deal between them should've been over. He looks at Tara and finds that she seems to be reluctant to say the thing inside her mind, clearly undecided about something.

Yet she eventually steeled her resolve and raised her gaze back to look at Blake.

Pausing for a second, Tara then eventually asked, "I'm sorry, but I have a question if you don't mind" Seeing that Blake doesn't mind, she then continues, "Can you navigate through the forest?"

Since he could deal with the escaping mercenary earlier, she suspected that Blake can.

It doesn't seem to be difficult for him to go through the forest.

Unlike the part of the forest earlier, this part is filled with weird but deadly obstacles. Even Blake earlier noticed it, some of the trees were actually a mob, and there are also ponds of toxic ponds here and there.

But since he has a very good vision, these things are not a problem.

"Yes, I can. As long as I'm being careful at least" Blake replied with a confident nod.

Upon hearing this, Tara and Linthia glanced at each other for a brief moment with a slight surprise in their eyes. It seems for whatever reason, being able to navigate the forest is a shock to them.

Looking back to Blake, Tara then added, "Can you help us reach the nearest city?"

"We'll compensate you handsomely if you help us again" Linthia chimed in.

"Hmm...? I could but why do you need that from me? None of the mercenaries are left, and if you're careful then you could maneuver over the bad trees and also the toxic ponds since they are placed in quite obvious places" Blake replied, he was confused.

It's true that the forest is dim-lit, but that doesn't mean people can't navigate through it.

But when Tara and Linthia heard this, the two of them look at Blake weirdly.

Realizing that Blake was not joking around judging from his expression, Tara then explained with a wry smile, "I- I think you're a special case. Just like the forest's name, it's bright yellow in color and is quite a lovely scenery. But that's an illusion created by the forest, and I think you can see the actual real forest"

Albeit he was confused earlier, his eyes slightly widened when he realized this.

Salana who was leaning on a tree trunk to Blake's left crosses her arm.

"It seems your skill allows you to be unaffected by the forest's illusion. Since I'm a part of you, I also didn't realize it. But as she said, you saw the forest as what it is, dark and deadly. But for them, it's a beautiful yellow forest" She said leisurely.

Just from that alone, Blake suspected his Nocturnal Blood Sight to be the cause of this.

It's the only skill he has that might cause him to be unaffected.

'Natural darkness, fabricated darkness, and illusion made of darkness or shadow...' Blake mutters inside his head, reading the Nocturnal Blood Sight description which further confirms his suspicion. 'No wonder that last mercenary was reckless like that, it seems he really can't see the tree mobs and toxic ponds'

Looking at the two, especially Tara that seems to be hurt, Blake sighs lightly.

Since he was about to search for a safe place to sleep for logging out later, he decided that it would be best to also go to a nearby city and rent him an inn. Moreover, there might be players there that he could PK.

'Killing these tree mobs would be great, but I can do that later'

Upon coming to a conclusion, he then gazed back at the two and nodded in agreement.

[Player MoonDespoiler has accepted the quest from Tara!]

[Quest - Escorting]

Accompany Linthia and Tara to reach the nearby city and make sure that they are safe.

Rewards: 50,000 Exp, 200 Infernal Veiled Assassin Guild reputation, and NPC Bonus.

Even though the rewards are not that great compared to the earlier quest, Blake wouldn't reject free rewards from an easy-to-complete quest. It's also in line with what he was about to do, so he didn't mind escorting Tara and Linthia.

[Tara and Linthia have joined player MoonDespoiler's party!]

Just like that, the three started to make their way north where the nearest city is located.

Linthia and Tara were a bit nervous about following Blake as there was still a chance that he wasn't able to completely see through the forest's illusion. But half an hour later, the two completely trust him as nothing went wrong.

Some time has passed.

Pausing to look in front of him, Blake frown as the forest is bigger than he thought.

It has been more than five hours of constantly walking carefully so as to not get caught in the danger of the forest, yet there doesn't seem to be any sign of the edge of the forest, almost as if the forest is endless.

Additionally, there were no active creatures along the way.

Right now is probably around noon, the creatures inhabiting the forest might still be hibernating. At least that is what Blake thought, and the moment the night came, there will be more danger lurking around them.

Since he met the giant bear earlier, he can't be at ease in this E-rank hunting ground.

Despite his Nocturnal Blood Sight being activated through the journey, and can help him detect if there are any living beings in the surroundings, it doesn't fully throw away the unrest he was feeling, he needs to be alert.

Judging from Linthia and Tara's expressions, both of them seem to have the same unrest.

Once in a couple of minutes, the two turn their heads left and right fearing that something might attack them from the bushes. But as they traveled through the forest, Blake wonder about something.

'Where is the rest of them...?' Blake thought curiously.

From what he was getting, it appeared that Linthia should be someone really important. She was targeted by mercenaries earlier, and she also has Tara who is willing to protect Linthia with her life.

Because of that, Blake wondered about the rest, surely Tara is not the only guard she has.

Since Tara was hurt even before he helped, something must've happened to them.

Although he was slightly curious, he could ask about that later when they are resting. On top of that, there's also the name that the last mercenary told him which would probably be of help for Tara and Linthia if they knew.

For now, he needs to focus on reaching as far as possible before the night came.