Trigger-Happy Potioneer

Mission Start: Find Nio!

New perspective. Let's see how the three Beta players are faring.

I slashed through another goblin as Delia - I mean, Dialsia - blasted craters into the surrounding field. The goblins broke apart into fragments and dropped the quest items we were looking for. I turned towards Melly and Dialsia. "Should we go back, then?"

Dialsia nodded her head, her blue, wide-brimmed hat wobbling as she moved. "Sure. I need to go buy mana potions anyways."

I grimaced a little. Mana potions are super expensive now that her mana has surpassed six hundred. Since only NPCs can make good ones, the developers chose to hike the prices for fun. We began walking back to the first town. Suddenly, the chat opened and a familiar voice came out of the window. "Hi."

I jumped and nearly goosed myself with my broadsword. Melly tumbled back, and Dialsia tripped forward.

"Will you stop coming out of nowhere?" Melly looked irritated - her scythe had stabbed itself into the ground next to her when she fell.

"I nearly stabbed myself." I grumbled as I quickly resheathed my weapon.

"I nearly bonked Melly in the head with my staff!" Dialsia was brushing off her hat, gathering her robes and staff as she got back up.

"Staff, are you a mage, Delia?" Nio, of course, has no idea as to our current situation.

"Of course. This is the only ranged class group that is actually useful." Dialsia sniffed. Mages are more cost-effective, but in Nio's case, that's a bit insulting.

"But, Delia, didn't you know that Nio took Archery?" said Melly in an innocent voice.

I looked at Dialsia. Her face was first a mask of shock, then began reddening from fury. I think it's fury.

"WHAT?!" she screamed. She was breathing heavily, and she was visibly emitting mana.

"Nio, where are you?" I tried to change the subject.

"In the forest. Still. Come see me if you want." Dialsia's inhalations were becoming louder. "I'm cutting out, see you later!" He dropped the chat.

"WHY DOES HE DO THIS EVERY SINGLE TIME?! CHOOSING EVERYTHING THAT PEOPLE SAY ARE USELESS, THEN DISAPPEARING RANDOMLY-" Dialsia was ready to go on a rant, but I cut her off.

"Well, let's first refresh ourselves, then go weed him out of the forest. You can beat him up once we find him, right?"

. . .

We stood at the border of Ilidas Forest. After a bit of research and small talk in the first town, we gleaned a bit of info on the forest. First is that there are safe zones were parties can regroup and heal up. Second would be the monsters are as weak as those in the field, but they're harder to battle because of the environment. Third, there are a few monsters who seem evolved and are difficult to kill. The number of those have also been increasing for some reason.

I checked the party's stats.

Azrael (Guardian)

HP 563/563

MP 233/233

Stats

STR 71 VIT 57

DEX 32 EVA 21

INT 23 LUK 24

Titles

Battleworn: You have seen and fought many battles. You experience less fatigue in combat and have some resistance to abnormal effects.