Author's Note:... I have been writing this with my phone, only. -We Are The Champions by Queen plays at the back.-

Disclaimer: Ragnarok Online belongs to Gravity and Lee Myoung-Jin, the one and only.

I sat aplomb, taking a short break at Prontera Field #8 after departed from Izlude. In the midst of my journey to Prontera, I decided to train a little so I could be strong enough to complete the first quest that I have taken.

I then opened up my profile screen, tracing through the stats point that I should allocate to empower myself. I have always want to be a high hit-point (HP) and high damage-per-second knight (DPS). Looking through the stats, I slided my finger towards Strength (STR) and increased it to 5 by now. The level up process considered to be quite okay so far. I could do this on my own. I am level 15 now, after grinding hard on the field.

Exterminating Porings and Lunatic were easy as pie. But the exp granted each phase, is getting lower as my level increased. Some adventurers suggested I could try my hands on Pupa, but it annoys me to no end once the cocoon transformed into Creamy - the butterfly creature; and teleports away once its hp halved by my damage. There goes my exp, flew away with its host.

I sighed. Maybe I should have changed places now.

I closed the screen, excusing myself from further stressing my brains out for thinking about the stats or where to train next. My hands kind of hyperactive today, so I opened up Friendlist screen this time. Checking up on the nearly empty display, I saw Sarah's status shown Busy in red. Meh, I'll be having another long and boring day it seems. Well, sadly to say, she is the only friend I have here.

After the strange incident with the mysterious man/woman draped in black back at Izlude, I literally put myself on a rather risky bet. More likely, put my head on the chopping board - that's even accurate. But, that's the only choice I have at the moment. And I want to go back home, too.

Swapping the next screen to Quest, where most of my Mission, Main and Side quests collected in a place - I slide open the specific ones that I was slightly afraid of, to be honest.

My eyes focused at the symmetrical serif fonts formed nicely into a paragraph. Then scroll down to read it aloud in my head;

Prologue: The March of Valkrjya

'... Odin shared such joyful laughter with his beloved sons, Baldur and Thor - as the realm of Asgard celebrates their victorious battle against the monstrous Jotun race.

The Allfather declared he was overwhelmed with pride and joy, listening the glorious telltales from his sons. He hence offered Baldur and Thor to choose one of his Valkryja in the Hall of the Fallen Soul, to assists them in the next battle to come.

Thor deliberately chose the one he fancied for long, Hildr. And Baldur, chose Brynhildr.

When the days of coming battle dawning near, Thor and his brother, Baldur accompanied by their chosen Valkrjya to the battlefield. But Brynhildr decided they should have a victory toast to bless the battle so they would win easily. The god of Thunder agreed, following suits by his brother. Brynhildr then draws out a piece of paper, and begin to scribes something:

Battle Victory Blessing

Mead made of 20 sacks of Wolf's Blood to empower the warrior's strength

Bread made of Wheat to empower the warrior's defense

And an exquisite Tiger's foot from a noble creature, made into talisman to bless the battle..."

A item-collection quest. It seems easy but having played some other console games before, I knew the last one will be made impossible - especially to someone like me in this level.

Where could I get these items from? I should start asking people around by now. This quest, as punishing as it can be, comes with a deadline. The requirements were simple, but I cannot - at any given rate, abandoned it or Game Over. Meaning, I can't allow myself to be killed in the game during the course of the event running.

And that's because-

"O-ouch!" I winced at the excessive pain inflicted on my right hand. I pulled closer and examined it. The blood still fresh, no matter how much rest I took and using the herbs I picked up along the way to heal it.

The otherworldly crest edged into my hand resembling foreign scripts and wings with thorns which I can't put into words.

This 'tattoo' apparently, appeared right after I accepted the quest from the hooded figure. The hollow entity then added that I have sealed a contract with them. Some sort of 'agreement' that I will complete this quest and the rewards shall be granted to me in a fair practice. Also, I am forbid to use cheat or abandoned the quest at my whim. Otherwise, I would be suffering a consequences that I rather not disclose right now. I was desperate, and exhausted. Out of the frying pan into the fire, guess the saying described my current situation so well that it suddenly sent chills to my spine.

Seriously... What have I done to get into this mess...

My mind immediately interrupted by the nearby voices, cheers and sounds of other adventurers walking in and out of Prontera South Gate. I could identify some of them by the looks of their costumes. Finally, some positivities! I could see wide smiles plastering on those adventurers' faces. Fiercely motivated, and passionate vibes emitting from the lots when grouped together; they have each other backs and work in a team they belonged to. Something I yearned to have too, the sense of belonging.

Most of them varying in age. Some looks older, some - I presume, are in their teens. Well, I'm considered young adult. I just celebrated my 18th birthday last month and unfortunately to say, after coming right out of Izlude, I haven't had a chance to look at myself. And till now, I have no clue of how do I look in Leya's form. I mean, there is no mirror available for me. I have to purchase one, obviously. But the price is exorbitant, not to my liking of course. And it is just a vanity item.

I earned enough loots and sold it off to a local merchant here for petty amount of zeny. And it could only lasts me for a few days, including the expenses of renting a room at the inn and my lunch. I cut almost 70% of my entire spending just to save up for the quest and emergency usage. I skimmed on my dinner, trying to eat as less as possible and even considering to camp outside at night.

Hurrm... Now I look like a pauper swordsman.

I slumped my shoulder a little, and sighed. I then swapped up the Class window and checked my overall progress.

Next Job progression. Level Requirement: Base Level 40.

40. I have approximately 25 levels to go. I have other quests to boost up my levels, but it will take a while to complete all unless I form a party of two to speed up the process.

Ragnarok Online, is a classic game. Unlike many other MMORPGs, the game does not offers PUG system (Pick-Up-Group) - where we would be able to find parties and joined randomly to complete a quest. And obviously, with that system, we do not have to resort to begging of course. I just don't favour when it comes to begging others to let me join their party or forcefully invite others to participate in mine. Sadly, there is no PUG system integrated in this game. So, we have to do the invite, manually.

Doing everything alone here is not a good idea either. As I laid my tired body down on the soft grass, thoughts about the real world slowly sipped into my mind.

How's Eddy, my munchkin-persian mixed cat doing so far? How long I have been away from the house? How was he doing...? Is he still skipping his lunch like usual? Did my parents notice about the predicament happened to me? I shuddered to think of my fate now. The only key to solve this, is by finishing the quest which I have accepted from the unknown entity. They claimed the only way for me to get what I desired - and that is by solving the quest. The answer lies within the task given to me.

The quest's headline 'Prologue: The March of Valkryja' highlights in a dimly-lit glow, indicating the quest is active. And I have about 48 hours to complete it. I would just follow the task to the end, in order to unlock the keys and get me out of here.

My fingers trickling the grass besides, feeling the soft sensation running through my skin. The lushly green field stretched as far as my eyes could see. Despite being just a field where adorable creatures like the bouncy slimy Porings, feather-clad rabbit like Lunatic, hard-shelled cocoon Pupa roam freely; people of all races, ages and classes get together here and sat at the nearby bench for idle chit-chat, while taking quick break before resuming next adventure.

I find it quite sublime, and peaceful here. Something that I can't piece it up to date. Living as Leya gave me new resolve. What can I do at this presence, as Leya? I'd get used to it, sooner. Accustoming myself with the sword-fighting, heavy weapon and armour clung to my body, killing monsters and whatnot - whereas the frequent tool I have ever used back in my life, was cellphone and my drawing equipments. Delicate items.

Sniffing the grassy scent of the field, like perfume to my nose, I heard footsteps approaching my side slowly.

Sarah? Is Sarah done with her stuff and coming to help me? I have messaged her earlier on, in private; but she never responded.

"Hey..." wait. A man's voice?

Scrunching my eyes to avoid the scorching sunlight, I saw a tall figure stood close to my vicinity. His shadow hovered above me, making it harder to tell who this stranger is. Or anything that he wants from me.

I sat up, fixing the hem of my skirt to be in proper manner, while taking a quick glance on the man beside. He sure is tall. About 6 feet and 2, I assumed. Dressing in such foreign rogue-ish outfit, I could shot few guesses that he might be someone from a desert clan. Thief? Rogue? Or... Assassin?

And that pair of crystal blue eyes. There is something ethereal about it, which I can't explain in words.

"You need help or anything?" - "You seem lost, somehow." said him, taking a seat next to me at the same time. That was fast. I mean, I may look like a total noob and in desperate need of help to progress my quest, but I am well aware of those advances. Advances that had nothing to do with quest, or leveling up... you get what I mean?

"Y-yeah... I was waiting for a friend, actually. We promised to train and complete our quest together." Lie. I was plummering a white lie in front of - who knows, another potential good samaritan like Sarah? Sometime I hate myself for this sole reason. I was too quick to judge, and too skeptical.

"Oh, alright. That's great." he responded kindly, though he may knew that I was rejecting his offer and continues waiting for my 'friend' to be here, like a loyal puppy. "I was in the middle of a quest, and I'd get here for short break occasionally." he added, sliding his crimson-hair bangs to the back. But those bangs just fall off to the front, again - making his demeanour kind of cute, in my opinion.

I chuckled silently. He has that charm; something that would get us hooked up quickly as friends, breaking away unfamiliarity boundaries. I didn't expect this from a rogue class, anyway. "Normally, I'd helped new adventurers in the quests and trained them to certain level. Once they are good to go, we would meet up again for future quests or MVP hunting."

MVP. That's another no-longer-foreign term to me. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player, but it is imposed for Boss level monster here in Ragnarok Online.

Adventurers from all over the world would form a large party or faction, ie: guild - to hunt for the best MVP in Rune-Midgard. Defeating MVP earns them prestige, fame, rare rewards that most people would be willing to sacrifice anything to get their hands on it.

Wow. I am thrilled indeed; listening to his adventurous tales and efforts in helping newbies like me, to set them in a proper course so that one day, we would return stronger and get together as a large faction for this purpose.

He might sounds like a salesman, trying to preach me into his ideal of joining his future guild or MVP party. But, I don't mind. There are plenty of things I haven't learn about this world yet.

And I need guidance. This could be a cue. Thank heavens! Now, I have found a party member. I can complete the quest in a jiffy, I thought for a second.

My heart suddenly flutters in joy. An unexplainable excitement that I hadn't experienced for years. Be it in real life, or now.

The young man seems able to read my moves like an open book. He then chirped, "Well, if you want to progress to next level in faster way, I can help you with that. Free-of-charge."

Like, really? You can do that? My eyes were sparkling in amazement; so intense that it could rivaled the afternoon spring sun. Such a kind-hearted fellow. I apologised for the earlier skepticism placed on you.

"So, any quest you're taking now? Perhaps we could start from there." he offered. "Oh, I almost forgot. Heh, how rude I am. Forgetting to introduce myself." said him again with a smile, while extending his hand to me. "I'm Destins, and you are?"

"Tra-" - "Leya..." I corrected immediately.

"I'm Leya..."

There was a brief moment of silence. The time apparently just stop flowing. The same sensation I felt back then in Izlude, when came into contact with those black-hooded entity. But this time, I felt my eyes just looking straight into him. And his blue orbs focused on mine in return. It is rather, ethereal, I must say. His eyes dawned on me, entangled my soul like a butterfly fell into the spider's web. Geez... Why am I thinking this now?

I returned to my senses immediately once realized that I have been staring into the space for god-knows how long. I must be dreaming, I groaned under my breath.

"Nice to meet you, by the way!" I grabbed his hand and shake, returning the favour.

Before getting down to the Quest window, I opened up my Friendlist menu instead, and clicked on his name to add as friend after those formalities.

"Destins. Level 55. Assassin."

Assassin.

"Destins..." my voice, suddenly husky, addressing his name. "Yeah?" the redhead responded quizzically, wondering what kind of trance I have gotten myself into. I shook my head. Just feeling a little bit hazy, and my chest tightens for some unknown reasons.

Flustered, I pulled out the Quest display quickly and commented. "I am doing this currently: The March of Valkyrja. Sort of like a item-collection quest. I have no clues where to get those items, though."

Destins' face darkened. For some reasons, my burden suddenly shifted to him. He then opens up his Quest menu instead; a translucent screen same as mine, pops out in front of us. "We have the same quest..." his voice just trailed off at the end of the sentence.

"Ehhhhh??!!"

The shriek of a certain swordsmaiden echoes into the horizon, under broad daylight.

And I swear, this is getting even weirder than I expected...

Chapter 2: Fated Encounter

Chapter Footer Note:Chapter 2 done! I couldn't access from the website, so I wrote everything via my phone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I do. And finally, our dearest hero (cough), Destins made his grand appearance. I am much confident with my writing skill so far, but I will improve always. Thank you for reading it! Don't forget to COMMENT, LIKE and SUBS me.

xoxo,

Elyzabeth