Penalty Quest, part 1: The harsh truth

-17th day of AC, 15.04.1052-

-Time: 0:00-

Travis's heart skipped a beat. Simultaneously, a current of wind blew around him and Violet, causing the grass to form gentle waves, swaying like ripples in a puddle.

'...The sacrifice?' he thought, looking back to Violet. The woman pulled out her double daggers, preparing for whatever might appear. Taking his chance, he quickly looked at the panel.

[Penalty Quest: The sacrifice.

Find the altar in the plains.

Time remaining: 1:00:00

Then, protect it while gathering cores. The cores will form after you slay Telinars, both scouts around the fields and the attackers who will attempt to destroy the altar periodically.

*Rarely, Telinars may drop more than one core.

Telinars will come to the altar in waves every 15 minutes from when you find it. The more cores you sacrifice to the altar, the stronger and more numerous the waves will become.

Cores gathered: 0/300

Optional: Stay until wave 10 and defeat it together with the boss. During wave 10, the altar's survival does not matter.

Reward: 3 stat points. 2 random items of the 'Utility' type. 1 extra stat point for every 50 cores above the requirement.

Optional reward: 4 stat points. 1 'Shard of Nihhelar'.

Failure penalty: ****.]

"This does not look like what you said would appear," she said, frowning a little. Nearly instantly, her eyes trailed somewhere to her side, almost as if she reacted to something she heard that the man did not. "What is the meaning of this?"

"...I... don't know," he replied. 'Why did it... wait...' "...there are multiple Penalty Zones."

"...what?"

[The penalty quest will now begin.]

"I--" he started speaking before some rustling behind him prompted him to stop. Immediately, he and the woman turned in the direction of the sound and saw... something coming out of the grass. Was it a rat? Was it a human?

...what exactly was it?

The creature that caught the attention of the two observers resembled a humanoid rat. It stood slightly taller than the surrounding grass and had gray-silver fur covering its entire body except for its feet and hands. Its limbs appeared thin but showed vague signs of muscles. The creature wore a leather tunic that concealed its slightly more pronounced torso. Its head was rat-like, with a long jaw, visibly pronounced foreteeth, and pointy ears. Its large black eyes were focused on the two observers as it slowly bared its fangs and took a step back. Its legs appeared almost human but with fur and longer feet with short pink toes of a rather sharp shape. The creature's fingers were longer in comparison to its small palm than Travis's were to his. It wore a leather tunic and short pants, covering it down to its knees. The creature had a long tail extending from its tailbone, remaining still for long seconds as the trio was in a staredown.

...

The weird rat hissed for a moment, causing Travis and Violet to flinch. However, as the woman prepared a throwing knife, the creature skittered into the grass, disappearing from their view. Nearly immediately, she took a step forward, as if she was about to give chase before she flinched and stopped. Her odd-colored eyes shot a glance at Travis.

"Did you lie to me?" she asked, but the man did feel a tiny bit of anger and wariness seeping from her words.

"No. I didn't know this would happen," he shook his head. "I'm as surprised as you are."

Violet looked to her side a little. "...but you said something just now?"

"...there are multiple Penalty Zones. Now I understand."

"...explain?"

"RALS never specified 'the' Penalty Zone. It must mean that there is more than one of them. The first time, I must've entered a different one. Or, this could be the same Penalty Zone, but in a different location. I'm not sure," 'Either way, it's my mistake. I should've paid mind to that earlier.'

"...Rals? Who is that?"

"...I'll explain on the way."

"On the way?"

"I told you, didn't I? There's a penalty quest to do. I expected it to be a pure survival one, but... it's a different kind," he raised the hand with the bag in it. "Now, let's go."

"?" Violet raised an eyebrow. It was true that the man had explained the concept of 'penalty quests' to her, but he didn't specify how he knew about them, or what were the conditions for him to have to do one. Did that mean that he would tell her? "You seem to be searching for something."

"I'm looking for the objective of the quest."

"...objective?"

"...*Sigh* Well, I'll have to explain everything from the beginning to you. Let's go, it's better to not waste time."

-About 10 minutes later-

"--and that would be where we are now," Travis said, looking at the young woman who had a thoughtful expression painted on her face.

For a few long moments, she didn't answer in any way, only making her way through the grass with him.

"I know, this will surely be a lot to take in, but that is the truth. All of it."

"...I see," Violet finally answered, slowly refocusing her eyes in front of herself. "so... MIDs can't read you, and break instead, like mine. And that 'RALS' thing is the substitution for it..."

"Correct," 'Weird. I thought she wanted to believe me... why isn't the quest cleared yet?' he frowned slightly.

'It makes a lot of sense. What he said would explain everything that's been happening around him, but...' "Can I ask you about something?"

"Sure."

"How do you know that Forna's supreme priest is an Apostle as well?"

"Well... I don't, truthfully," Travis shrugged a little in response. "I only took information that I learned and combined it with what RALS provided me with. Sia - the Goddess of Light - has been portrayed as a pretty self-centered person, so it made sense to me that he would be chosen. That would only increase the worship of her. And since the same day Apostles were chosen the supreme priest summoned all Inspectors and higher ranks to the capital means that I'm at least partially right. He wants to sieve through the mana of the authorities."

"..."

"Take your time to soak it in."

"...yes," she answered.

'It's probably better to stay silent, now.' Travis thought, taking a swiping look around the plains. Although they had been walking around for more than 10 minutes now, they hadn't seen a single glimpse of what could be an altar that the quest spoke about. It likely wasn't going to be easy to find at this rate, but the man was determined to keep going. With resolve,

The two of them kept on moving, slowly circling the area. With every passing minute, Travis felt his heart sink just a little bit deeper. 10 minutes turned into 20 in an instant, and as they did so, the number of rat-men scouts (Telinars, as RALS called them) seemed to increase. While the man and woman only came across one every few minutes, their rustling about was hearable, and definitely becoming more frequent.

Still, so long neither of them attacked, Telinars quickly backed off when coming across them (though, they did hiss a lot when doing so. It was kind of annoying if Travis had to be honest).

Nevertheless, as both he and Violet kept on going for some more time, it became apparent that sooner or later, they would have to fight the rat-men. Their numbers around seemed to increase to a dozen if not more, and based on the frequency and position of their hustling around, they were circling them, coming slightly closer over time. It was definitive proof: they were preparing an ambush.

"Violet."

"...I know," she replied, not even asking a question. They both were aware of the situation.

"You take right, I take left?"

"...very well," she nodded, spinning the daggers in her hand a little before suddenly dashing forward, toward the nearest source of the sounds.

'...reckless.' the man thought, looking at how the woman didn't hesitate for a single moment, slashing first one scout, then another. Within a couple of minutes, she was going to have a kill count in the double digits at this rate. 'I should start as well. She appears to be able to fend on her own for now.' he turned around, looking at the grass around his part. Although before he would only be able to locate the rat-men by sound, right now, he got used to the signs. The way the grass waved was synchronic and pattern-like. Meanwhile, whenever Telinars skittered through it, the plants in their way gave, causing ruptures to appear in the waves. And Travis was searching for those imperfections.

'<Sprint>.' he commanded his spirit and immediately got propelled forward. Positioning his feet properly, he managed to collide with one of the beasts while it was moving. Planting a kick in its stomach, the man quickly fixed his posture and lunged at the monster, engaging it in a fight.

Telinars were fast, there was no doubt about that. The speed at which they traversed the grasslands around was definitely on par with Travis's if not greater. Their senses were also rather on point, as when the man and the beast exchanged a few blows, the humanoid rat managed to dodge even when he thought he was being sneaky with a surprise attack. However, there were things that they had well below him.

Firstly, they had negligible strength compared to Travis. When they clashed weapons for a split second, the man felt almost no resistance in pushing the monster back. While they carried around weapons, they definitely had a difficult time using them proficiently, as well.

Secondly, they didn't appear to have any magical abilities, which only made it easier for Travis. Not having to worry about a magical strike was a good thing, even if it meant their stats were higher in different areas (which wasn't very noticeable anyway).

A swipe, a slash, a stab in succession, and eventually, a quick <Mana Bolt> was all that it took for the enemy to be felled. Travis breathed out a quick sigh, seeing the rat's lifeless body fall to the ground. For some reason, he felt... uneasiness well up in his stomach. This creature, while definitely monster-like, was a touch too close to a human in its looks, and even equipment, for the man to feel like he was fighting just a monster. For a brief moment, he felt his stomach constrict nervously, unsure if it wanted to keep its contents inside. This was definitely something that would have an effect on him, even if partially.

And then, he looked in the direction where Violet was hunting. Immediately, what came to his attention was her expression. It was stone-cold. Her completely expressionless face didn't even blink when a rat's arteries were ruptured, sending blood like paint from a brush, some splattering on her left cheek. And still, there was no reaction to it.

'...I thought she was reckless, but... those are not movements of someone who doesn't care about their own safety. Every time she steps, she gives herself just enough leeway to freely change direction, just in case she has to. On top of that, her speed is greater than theirs, but she moves slower, almost as if she wants to level the field. Or... as if she was practicing. She is light on her feet and barely stops for a moment. Her slashes are all shallow, but they strike at sensitive parts of Telinars's bodies, and are quickly followed up by stabs.'

...

'Outstanding.' he thought, unsure what other word could describe Violet's technique at that moment. It was... almost like art, in a way. Like watching a painter create a masterpiece of their life, pouring all their passion into it, Violet made the most calculated of movements. Not a single motion was wasted as she circled her opponents, used the weaknesses she had created, and eventually brought them down, one after another.

And on top of that, the way her expression was not changing, remaining stoic like she was just walking, made her look... almost doll-like. A killer doll, per se. Travis wasn't sure why, but he felt... weirdly amused at the idea.

'...goddamit, get your priorities straight.' he berated himself mentally. 'You're in the middle of a quest that will decide if you will see tomorrow's sun or not, and THAT'S what you're thinking about?' he groaned at himself a little before glancing back at the monster he had slain.

On top of the Telinar's corpse, on its torso to be exact, a small, green orb has formed, gleaming in the sun's rays like a tiny gemstone. 'So, that must be an orb that we have to collect.' he judged, coming closer and kneeling by its side. Quickly, he swiped his hand, taking the item and tossing it into the bag.

Then, he glanced at his opponent's weaponry. The single shortsword was made of some dark-colored metal which appeared severely damaged. Reaching out for it, Travis weighted it in his hand. Focusing his gaze, he was welcomed by an information panel.

[Black iron shortsword

Rating: Normal

Attack power: 12-15

Durability: 3/125

*There is a low probability of activating the 'Heavy Blow' skill.

*There is a moderate probability of causing minor armor damage to the target.

A small sword made haphazardly out of a heavy piece of black iron. Its blade is slightly dulled.

Weight: 520 g

**This item is locked to the Penalty Zone. Bringing it out of Penalty Zone is impossible.**]

'...it wouldn't be a bad weapon to use here, but... its durability means it might break at any moment.' he conceded, looking at Pacifist's remaining usage. It stood at 70 points. Since just a day ago, it lost as much as this sword had remaining. 'Besides, I don't know how I feel about looting something so... humanoid.'

In a way, it almost felt like grave robbing. With a slight grimace, Travis turned away, throwing the sword to his side.

Then, he pulled out the orb from the bag. Its jade-like appearance made it look similar to a small fruit. In a way, it also appeared to be emanating a very faint, food-like smell.

[Telinar spirit core (small)

*Randomly buffs one stat by 3 for 5 minutes.

*There is a low probability of increasing skill damage by 5%. Stacks up to 30% and is reset upon skill usage.

*Excessive consumption will cause a permanent decrease in stats.

It's a coagulation of a Telinar's strength. Its consumption will slightly improve your abilities for a short while. Its best use, however, is in alchemy.

Weight: 5 g]

'...it's a buff item. Too bad it's also a quest item. But since it's not tied to the Penalty Zone, perhaps I can get a few when we finish it...'

And then, he clenched his fists. 'Now's no time to ponder on such things. We need to make sure we can clear it, first.' he decided. Then, he rushed forth, joining Violet in the fight.

-After some time-

[0:07:25]

Travis looked at the timer, and then at the altar in front of him and Violet. Having dealt with the scouts before, they had obtained a total of 31 orbs (24 of which were reaped by the woman), which meant they were at least a little bit ahead in the quest than initially.

The altar was... simplistic in its entirety. In a rather large clearing (about 15 meters in diameter) stood a small pedestal with a large bowl on top of it. Around the structure itself, 8 statues depicted Telinars in what seemed like a worshipping position, on their knees with hands into the sky.

Suddenly, a notification sprung in front of the man.

[You have found the altar.]

[The first wave will begin in 15 minutes.]

[15:00]

'15 minutes. Good enough time to prepare. Maybe we can finish the talk, too.' he thought whilst turning to Violet, who was looking at him, evidently with a question on her mind. Quickly, he dropped his backpack right next to the object of worship, and put the cloth bag in the bowl, immediately getting a notification about an increase in the quest progress.

"We found it. Just in time, too. The quest will begin in 15 minutes. We will have to protect it from those rat-men."

"...how do you know?" Violet's eyes gleamed with curiosity as her eyebrow raised slightly.

"Didn't I tell you? RALS told me."

She didn't answer. Glancing to her side, she fixed her attire slightly, which made her curves ever so slightly more prominent.

"Do you have any trap-laying skills?"

"...no."

"Really? I thought Cecilia would have a few?"

"...Cecilia?"

"Well, Storm Rogue," he shrugged, walking over to the altar and inspecting the terrain around a little. 'Let's drop the pretense.'

"Did she tell you her name?"

"RALS did."

"..."

"I really would like an answer, so decide: Do you think you can believe me or not?"

*Ting!*

[You have fulfilled the quest: The doubt.

Intelligence and Wisdom increased by 1 point each. You have received 2 stat points.]

[You have completed the optional objective. You have been awarded: Calidan Thunder Blade. Please extend your hand and accept to receive the reward.]

"!?" Travis flinched nearly instantly at the notification, surprised by its abrupt appearance. While he did expect it to appear at any moment now, he wasn't prepared for it to appear only after speaking with Violet. The woman's face seemed as stoic as ever.

Violet looked to her side for a long moment. Her eyes glanced at the grass of the plains, moving in waves, while her mouth let out a small sigh. "I suppose. It appears to fit everything I saw. Although... the concept of 'stats' is... a little challenging to wrap my head around."

"I reacted similarly at first," he replied, nodding. Stealing a glance at the timer, he confirmed that it was counting down quickly.

"...I suppose it's now my turn to tell you everything."

"That'd be a fair trade," Travis nodded a little. "Let's use the time we still have."

"What I told you so far is all true. The group I belong to has been investigating the villages and towns around Poiri for some time. However, we did go to Holia mostly because our Psion has observed you for some time, and he detected that your mana is... strange. I suppose we now know why."

"So... he went to Holia because of me?"

"That's correct. Truthfully, we would've gone there at some point anyway. It's merely a matter of not having enough manpower to monitor every last village around."

[08:40]

"Then... you're saying that your Psion didn't do anything to Crystal?"

"That's right. None of the Psions in our group did anything to anyone in your hometown."

"...'anyone'? What do you mean, 'anyone'?" he asked, turning to her slightly more than before. He frowned deeply, awaiting her response.

"...since you asked about your sewn sister specifically, I'm assuming you must've tried to influence her in some way?"

"...I just tried to reassure her that I can carry my own weight. She really worries about me sometimes," 'Just answer the question.' Travis wanted to rush the woman, but just barely decided against it.

"...Then, I imagine you must've felt that there is a barrier around her mind?"

"...Are you saying somebody else in Holia has one as well?"

"...not just 'somebody', Travis. Everybody."

"...what?" the man half-whispered under his breath, feeling something sting him in his heart. Immediately, his movements halted, as his hands shook a little. "...what?!"

"...yes. Everyone old--"

"What do you mean, 'everybody'?!" Travis almost jumped, getting a hold of Violet's shoulder. "What do you mean by that?!!" he raised his voice momentarily. However, as he noticed that the woman barely fought his grip, he released his hold, albeit reluctantly.

"I was just getting to that. I understand this must be hard to listen to, but let me finish, please."

[04:15]

"...go on."

"Our main Psion did investigations around your hometown. He found out three things. The first one is that everyone in Holia of at least Crystal's age has a mental barrier of incomparable strength to what he had ever seen. Second, all of those barriers were made by a single person. Third, that person is no longer around."

"...no longer around? How can you be sure of that?"

"...because of your sister, Kanya."

"...what did you say?" he asked, his gaze suddenly turning into a glare as he stared Violet down. Unbeknown to him, his fists clenched nearly instantly, and the knuckles of his hand became pale.

"What I'm about to tell you will shake your world, Travis. Please, do not act harshly."

"Just tell me," he replied instantly. 'Don't coax me.' - That was the message he was delivering through his words, muted yet hearable.

"In all of Holia, there is only one place where there is a concentration of psionic magic. And that place is your sister's grave."

The man remained silent, but his eyes only seemed to say one thing: 'Go. On.'

"As you know, your sister died in a fire, one that she started to destroy a 'monster'. This... sounds extremely similar to one of the most popular stories Psions use when they want to disappear. After all, if they burn, it's impossible to tell if it's really them, even if you check the mana. It could be them, it could be... someone they've controlled."

"...s-so... you're saying..."

"We do not know who that Psion is, or where they are. But we do know one thing: they murdered your sister to fake their own ****," Violet said. It felt almost wrong to tell the man the whole truth she knew of, but... a deal was a deal. Besides... he had to know eventually, she knew it.

Travis's hands started shaking as he turned away from Violet. This... wasn't something he expected to hear, and yet... for some reason... "...n-no..." he spoke with a shaky voice, feeling his eyes watering.

"...I know this is difficult for you--"

"NO!" he turned to her whilst raising his voice. "That CAN'T be true!" he shouted at her, prompting her to step back a little.

"...that is the truth we know."

"That is the truth you WANT to know!" he replied with an aggressive tone. "Kanya died to a monster! I saw it myself! She's the hero of Holia, and you're trying to make her into a Psion's puppet?!"

"...Can you recall what the monster looked like? Or its minions?"

"...I-I..." he stuttered for a moment before falling silent.

"Can't, can you? At best, it's probably all blurry."

"...how do you know that? What did you do?" he asked, taking a small step back.

[01:49]

"I did nothing. What you are experiencing is the work of that Psion. They wanted to erase every trace of their existence from your memory. Looks, smells, and behaviors. All that's left is a blurry memory, seemingly reachable, yet... not. You probably never even paid it much mind, but that's how they're created. That's how Psions go about this."

"..."

"Whether you like it or not, that is the truth. Our group is currently looking into it, trying to decipher the barriers, but it's not easy. What I want you to understand is, we ARE looking for that Psion. And we're not your enemies, Travis."

"...why? Why would your 'group' be interested in that?"

"...The barriers made by that Psion are... way beyond the power that our people possess. That Psion was likely past their 3rd advancement, maybe even stronger. We want to know who they are. And we want to know their intentions."

"..."

[00:00]

[The first wave will now begin.]

Almost as if on cue, the grass around them started giving out some rustling sounds, indicating that some monsters appeared nearby. Instantly, Violet brought out her double daggers, preparing to fight. She might've not known the objective of the quest exactly, but she did understand the main gist of it: they were supposed to protect the altar from the rat-men. "Is our time up?" she asked, studying the man's expression.

However, what suddenly perplexed her, was that Travis didn't take his daggers out, and instead took a long step away from the altar.

"Protect the altar," he said to Violet before turning to the outside area.

"...very well," 'It's pointless to try and convince him otherwise. But...' "Aren't you going to take out your weapons?"

He extended his hand to the side in response. 'Accept reward.'

In an instant, a sheathed blade appeared in his hand. It was roughly 80 cm in length in total, and its handle appeared to have some small ornaments made of silver. The crossguard was rather small.

'...what is that?' Violet wondered as she eyed the blade for a moment. Nearly immediately, her attention was however dragged away from the man, as the first of the Telinars went into the clearing, clenching two small daggers in its hands. It hissed at her before pouncing on the ground in her direction, and the woman began the fight with a clean kick to its chin.

Meanwhile, Travis undid the sheath of the weapon. Fittingly for its name, the Calidan Thunder Blade emitted some small arcs of lightning between the blade and its sheath, stopping once there were no more spots to arc to. Its surface was of a light silver color, which shone brilliantly in the sun's rays. Despite its size, the sword was surprisingly light, and it seemed to vibrate in unison with the air surrounding it, sending a shivering sensation through his hand.

He pointed the sword at the ground momentarily. He could feel it - a subconscious feeling telling him to use mana on it. He didn't even need to look at the weapon's description - it was almost like it called out to him. Like in just a few seconds, since he touched it, he already knew it inside out.

'Two points into Sense.' he commanded the system.

Breathe in, breathe out. As the first Telinar came from the grass and into his field of view, Travis charged some of his mana into the sword, prompting it to start releasing some new arcs of lightning, most of which arced to the blade itself, a few going into the ground, and one or two striking his hand.

Before he prepared to swing the blade at the approaching Telinar, only one thing permeated his mind.

Rage.

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