Valmanhyn

Leo slowly raises his hands, using his shoulder to wake Arte up. Her head shifts as she yawns and wipes the drool off her face. Her vision clears, and the guard standing before her points the sword at her.

“You too! Get up!” He ordered.

“Wait!” The guard captain runs to the center of the ship. “I’m the captain of Kellansburg guard, Sett. We came here after the town was overwhelmed in a stampede.”

The guard in gold armor sheathes his sword and shakes hands with Sett.

“Sett, your town was taken out by a stampede?!” He exclaims. “We’ll have everyone get off the boat. Since it’s late, our lord is resting, so we’ll need to wait until tomorrow to address this issue. We’ll have the local inns put you all up for the night; we’ll reimburse the owners, so don’t worry about the cost.”

The remaining guard sheathed their swords.

“Forgive me for drawing my blade. I wasn’t sure what kind of threat this could’ve been, but I’m glad as many of you were able to escape as you did.” He says with relief. “Let me know the details later.”

“We have two other ships close by as well,” Sett says. “For now, everyone, let's get off the ship.”

Everyone on the ship began to slowly make their exit. The guards helped the elderly and injured off the ship, and they were split across multiple inns in town. Luckily, the town was in an off-season for tourism, which meant there were more rooms available. Leo and Arte were put together in a room with a single double bed. The floors were wooden and covered in covered with numerous scratches and chips. The walls were painted white, and there were several cabinets in the room. Even a folding screen in the back for changing clothes.

“Definitely not as cozy as Sky’s place,” Leo mumbled.

“Not like we’re gonna be sleeping much anyway, right?” She asks.

“What do you mean?” He asks. He collapses onto the bed and turns his head toward her as she leans against the wall.

“We should take this time to plan what we're gonna do going forward. We made it to Valmanhyn much faster than expected. Orientation at the School of Blades is in eight days, so we can take all the time we need to get ready.” She explains.

“Right. Then we can gather up all the best stuff and challenge that crooked academy.” He states.

“So let's figure out the bosses that are gonna be coming up in the near future.” She says. “The first we’ll encounter at the school gates, and a recurring boss at that, Lance Arveld.”

“He’s barely a boss, isn’t he?” Leo asks.

“Maybe for the hero.” She shook her finger. “The hero was trained by his dad to use a sword, who was formerly an imperial guard. So his fundamentals of the sword are much stronger than ours. Lance may be a brat, but he’s been taught just as long as the hero was; the hero simply had much more practical experience.”

“So do we. By the time he walks through that gate, he’s only slain at most four or five monsters. I believe in our strength.” Leo says.

“I do too, but I also believe in overwhelming victory.” She clenches her fist with a grin.

“Don’t forget, there are quite a few ways to beat him.”

Leo and Arte spend most of their time plotting their course. They only went to sleep when the sun began to rise, causing them to awaken in the late afternoon. They exited the inn and went down the stairs. The stairs creaked with each step and were equally as damaged as the wooden floor in the room. The inn’s tavern was full of chatter, the air heavy with the scent of various beef. Upon peering from the stairs, they could see even the many residents of Kellansburg getting swept up in the atmosphere. Leo and Arte manage to slip by and exit the building. They entered the city where the town had cobbled streets, banners that hung on each street flying the emblem of the School of Blades. At the center of town, there was a roundabout that had several waterways that branched off into six paths. Water taxis were ferrying couples down the scenic waterways.

“Sky gave us three potions a piece, so we’ll need to make them last.” He says.

“Hopefully, we can get a teammate that’s a Surgician. Although who knows how it’ll work in here…”

In the game, healing was among one of the hardest things to do, which meant that relying on one’s ability to minimize damage was the name of the game. Dodging, blocking, etc, were all things one needed to master to be capable of mastering the game. Even the game’s natural healers weren’t without their caveats. Surgicians required several difficult skill checks in the form of quick time events, but without the mechanics of the game, the method by which they would provide healing was unknown.

“Well, we’ll know when we get there,” Leo says. “But as for our first order of business, it's dungeon time!”

“We’ve got four dungeons to finish in eight days. Blood Hollow, Night Ridge Cavern, Shrieking Grotto, and Deep Delve.” She says. “This time we’ll be prepared.”

Leo was practically shaking with excitement.

“I can’t wait to get my hands on some sweet loot!” Leo said excitedly.

“You’re like a kid in a candy store, right now.” She chuckled.

While walking through town, they saw Milq and Emerald strolling together and sharing food from the nearby stalls.

“Look at them.” Leo smirks.

“That’s definitely a date.” Arte says.

“Why don’t we grab a bite before heading over to the dungeon, too?” He suggests.

“I am kinda hungry, what are you in the mood for?” She asks.

“I could go for a nice burger right now…” Leo drooled.

“Valmanhyn does specialize in beef cuisine, but I don’t remember seeing any burgers.” She says.

“Well, close enough, I guess, let's just see what looks good,” Leo suggests.

Arte and Leo make their way through the shopping district with multiple eating establishments. They had windows built into the side of the building to capitalize on the foot traffic along the main route. People could smell the scents wafting and walk up to the window and grab some food to-go; the food sold this way was limited to finger foods or simple foods. But they had the option to come around the front entrance to dine in.

They walked past a place that sold beef skewers; the meat was seared on the outside, while retaining its juicy appearance. It was coated in a light glaze of sauce that made it glisten in the sunlight. Arte was still eyeing its appearance when she noticed Leo was gone. She looked around and found him already at the stall, purchasing some skewers. He came running back over with two skewers and handed one to Arte.

“I thought we could sample something while looking for a place.” He says.

“Thanks. I was just staring at one of those.” She says.

“I could tell.” He smiled.

Both skewers had six pieces of beef on them. Leo grabbed two in one bite, and while savoring the flavor, breathed heavily as the heat burned his tongue.

“Slow down! It’s not going anywhere!” She chuckled.

After managing to swallow his food, he sighed in satisfaction.

“This is super good! You’ve gotta try it, I got the herbs and spices.” He says.

“Alright.” She says.

Arte sweeps her bangs back behind her ear before leaning in for a bite. Leo caught himself staring as she did so, and couldn’t help but look closer at the features of her face. Her cute, round cheeks, soft lips, and glittering eyes that looked as though they hid the ocean behind them. She takes a bite of one of his pieces and pulls away while savoring the flavor.

“This is really good.” She said while covering her mouth.

“No kidding…’ He mutters. “Uh… Yeah! It’s pretty damn good. H-hows the sauce one?”

“It’s also pretty good. Wanna bite?” She asks. “It seems like it's some sort of honey fusion, but I can’t think of the other…”

She watches Leo take a bite of her food and watches him close his eyes as he deeply savors it. In that moment, a lightbulb clicks on in her head.

“This is practically a date!” She thought.

“S-so… H-how is it?” She stammers.

“Pretty tasty. The honey sauce really draws out the flavor of the beef.” He explains. “I should’ve gotten that one.”

“Wanna trade each other for the rest?” She suggests, sticking out her skewer to him.

“S-sure.”

After trading, they silently eat the rest of the skewers.

“Do you wanna just eat in at that skewer place?” Leo suggests.

“Let's just do that…” Arte agreed.

After dining in at the skewer spot, they stopped at a few more shops before heading to the dungeon. The dungeon was located along the blood plains, the terrain surrounding the entire country of Valmanhyn. The blood plains were aptly named because of the peculiar red tinge that covered the plains like dew. Mist, rain, snow, in the country of Valmanhyn was always red. The dungeon had been located off to the side of the city, so due to its proximity, it was managed by the city’s guards. A pair of guards stood at the entrance.

Arte and Leo approach the cave entrance and are stopped by them.

“Hunting today?” They ask.

“We’re actually clearing it today,” Arte says.

The guard scoffs.

“This dungeon has been around for more than twenty years; if it could be cleared, it would have been done already.” He peers over at his colleague with a grin. “You’re welcome to try, like all the others over the years.”

“We will,” Leo says. “We’re on a tight schedule, so we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Yeah, sure you will.” The guard yawns.

Arte and Leo head into the darkness to begin their plan to strike down the four dungeons of the Valmanhyn plains. Starting with the Night Ridge Cavern.