The Radiance from Within

Chapter 7

This was it, the final part of the Condor Heroes quest. It had been long and convoluted. Which was why they saved it as one of the last quests to do. Naihe and Weiwei walked up to the quest-giving NPC hand in hand smiling at each other as they started the quest.

"What a compatible online couple!" the NPC started their script. "Your love and courage have helped you overcome various obstacles to reach here."

The dialog box popped up asking the couple if they wished to start the Parting Tactics quests? Weiwei turned to her online husband and gave him the largest of smiles which Naihe replicated before both clicking on accept at the same time.

Naihe was in a panic. Weiwei was gone. How could she be gone? She was just here. He promptly pulled up his private messaging app and sent a message to Weiwei. "Weiwei, are you alright?"

In a dark cave Weiwei sat on a floor a bit disorientated when she heard Xiao Nai's voice asking if she was alright in her head. "Dashen." she replied..

Naihe let out a sigh of relief; he was afraid that he would not be able to contact her. At least they can private message. "Furen," he started. "The quest says that I have sixteen hours to find you. Is there anything you can tell me about your surroundings?"

Weiwei looked around and all she could see was blackness. "Nai." she cried "All around me is nothing but darkness. I can't even see my hands in front of my face."

"Weiwei my heart you need to focus, can you hear anything?" Naihe asked.

Wewei quieted down and closed her eyes so her ears could focus on anything that could get a clue for where she was. "I hear water and I am on a stone floor. I think I'm in a cave."

Xiao Nai was going through all the ancient lovers' legends that his parents had ever told him or that he had ever read. Then he smirked once he remembered that the quest was based on a book series 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' which was written by his mother's favorite author Jin Yong and she used to make him watch the 1983 television series with her on disk after school when he was a kid. He would have to get his mother a new copy of the books when they were able to leave this game. With his memory of the books this quest should be much easier. "Weiwei, I know what to do. Be brave my love. I will find you soon."

"Hurry please." Weiwei cried. She did not like to be in the dark without knowing what was around her. Even though this was all a game it was unnerving to say the least.

The challenges had been tricky to say the least. The challenges truly tested his skills both physically and mentally. After winning a game of Go against an NPC and receiving a talisman he knew that the quest was starting to come to an end. He just had to keep going for Weiwei. He smiled when a quest screen popped up and said "Challenge: Owner of the Paired Lovebirds: All love is destined by fate, fleeting and ephemeral. Worry springs forth from love. Fear springs forth from love. Freedom from love is freedom from worry and fear. If you want to save your lover, you must pass my test. Are you willing to sacrifice everything you have in order to rescue your lover? Be warned if you lose you will need to restart the whole game from Level 0." Naihe didn't have to think twice. He clicked on yes and continued his quest.

The moment that he confirmed the quest an NPC verified to see if he was sure. But Naihe ignored the way to back out and was prepared to battle for both him and Weiwei's sake. The battle had to be one of the most intense ones that Naihe had ever played and if he were a lesser man he would be worried. But he trusted in his skills and trusted in the fact he would be willing to tear this world apart to find Weiwei. The NPC noticing the talisman he was holding did not come soon enough. If Xiao Nai was honest with himself he was near to being knocked out.