The rchant invited Yvlena into the caravan so she could listen to what she assud would be a tale of woe.
Ricardo let down the back steps with in the caravan so she could climb up into the living room while the shop downstairs was temporarily closed.
Yvlena placed a tentative hand on the railing and ascended the staircase to be t with a charming little living room.
The tubal design didn't allow for the sa amount of room as the Rose Manor but the entire caravan was bathed in a cozy afternoon light.
It was all dark wood, with two seats held to the wall and delicate cushions and pillows arranged for beauty and comfort.
A little kitchen sat at the back of the room and Ricardo had already put on so tea in his elaborately designed porcelain kettle with an ornantal brass handle.
"Please make yourself at ho." He said to her, busying himself with preparing the tea for them.
Yvlena nodded and took her ti looking around the space and most especially his shelves.
She was amazed by what she saw. The caravan's wall shelves and hangings were full of baubles and trinkets. So were there for decoration and others brimming with magic.
Yvlena lowered her head to see a snow globe that seed to replicate a legendary battle between a hero and a long serpentine dragon. The dragon's body moved and twisted within the globe, roaring as the hero jabbed at it with a miniature sword.
There were herbs too, small ornantal boxes, and much more. If Yvlena were to ask about everything she saw, she would no doubt be there for an entire week
The kettle began whistling, letting them know the tea was ready.
Ricardo carried the tray of tea in a hand-carved wooden tray towards the seating area. He placed the tea on a small table that seed to appear as soon as he needed it, then set out a saucer with a small pile of biscuits.
Yvlena's gut told her the rchant's tale would be one involving a quest and she could not wait to hear it.
It probably had sothing to do with the Miasma and how he had co to Bloom Haven.
Yvlena took a nibble out of the biscuit and noticed it was spicy, but her taste buds were still numb within the ga. The Revista had it's limits after all. She wondered how defined the taste would be within the Zephyr or even within a gaming Pod like Mars'
"What did you want to tell about?"
Ricardo began with a long and suffering sigh, his shoulders sagged and his head drooped.
"It's a long story but it all began in my city far away from Bloom Haven."
Slowly the rchant's tale began to unfold within Yvlena's mind, as if she was staring at a screen watching a cutscene like any other ga.
[Ga CutScene Plays]
Ricardo was outside tending to a new shipnt of goods being pulled in by a carriage, he laughed jovially as he always did with the driver and whilst they exchanged stories, the atmosphere changed.
"Look!" the delivery man said, they watched a beam of pure darkness shoot into the sky and dissolve in the winds.
Ricardo and the carriage driver stared at each other in astonishnt.
"Y-You don't think..." the delivery driver began, but Ricardo already knew what he was going to say.
The Miasma west of their city had been cleared but that didn't an the path was any less treacherous. It just ant one of the towns previously unavailable to the Aruergo rchant family was now open.
His younger brother who was tending to the Aruergo family shop burst out of the double doors in a panic.
"Brother the sky!" he said. Ricardo nodded. Already the skies around them were a lighter shade of blue, more blue than they had seen in close to a century.
"Pedro wait by the house, there's sothing I have to do," Ricardo said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. The young teen saluted and ran back into the family shop.
He went to check it out with one of his cals and found other rchants there, two others from the three great rchant Families of Moon Valley.
Aruergo, Fortuna and Allegri.
They had all ridden to the entrance of what used to be a barrier and found the darkness of the miasma gone.
Michaelis Fortuna greeted him with a smirk. The tall blonde man's eyes saw right through Ricardo's intentions. The two n knew their families in particular were rivals and so it would be a competition of who would get through the darkness first.
Alyssa Allegri stayed silently observing. The heiress soon spun around without another word.
"It's clear that as rchants we all haven't been able to complete the rcantile trials the sa as our older brothers and sisters. The way is clear, we will cross paths with each other soon enough," she said.
Alyssa got on her horse, a white spirit stallion. It neighed powerfully and galloped back into the city.
----------
"It vanished!" Ricardo exclaid, He ran through his family's shop and went straight into the hall where his mother and father would be entertaining the other rchants in the family.
The others imdiately erupted, running about to get back to their shops.
"Let the rcantile trial of Ricardo Aruergo begin!"
----------
With the blessings of his friends and family, Ricardo set off to make his fortune, but all was not well.
The roads were filled with peril, Ricardo did not expect. He'd encountered many things in the wilds, bandits, wild goblins, and creatures of all sorts but his biggest challenge awaited on the outskirts of Bloom Haven.
On the outskirts of Bloom Haven, Ricardo heaved a sigh of relief once he laid his gaze on the abandoned outpost entrance of Bloom Haven. He was attacked.
[Ga Cutscene Ends]
"I don't know who or what attacked , but my caravan lost a huge shipnt," Ricardo said sadly.
"What as in it? The shipnt I an?" Yvlena asked.
"A lot of things, equipnt, weapons, and even so rare items. I know so items would probably be damaged but I would like to salvage them if possible," Ricardo said.
Yvlena thought it over, knowing that whatever had attacked Ricardo was most likely a boss. She stared at his downcast face as he drank his tea and ate the spicy biscuits.
Ricardo was a man who absolutely did not know how to hide his emotions. Yvlena gave him a warm smile.
"What do you need to do?"
As soon as she asked a quest popped up.
[Special Quest: A rchant's Plight
Ricardo Aruergo from the great house of the Aruergo rchant family encountered so difficulties on his road to Bloom Haven.
Investigate the creature that attacked him and try to recover the misplaced shipnt.
***
Rewards
????
????
***
Moon Points x1000
Moon Gems x100
***
EXP x500]
Yvlena accepted in an instant, knowing by now where the rewards were unclear it was usually sothing rare. She knew by now she might have had an unfair advantage.
Bloom Haven was an area made from the works of her mother. She smiled sadly.
"I'll find your shipnt and bring it back to you, so don't worry about it," Yvlena said. Ricardo gasped dramatically. Holding his hands to his face.
He nodded eagerly.
"You will be handsoly rewarded!" He said, lifting his hands in glee. Yvlena nodded.
"Before you go take this," he said.
[Yvlena Acquire
***
Aruergo Afternoon Special Tea (Recipe)
Aruergo Afternoon Special Biscuits (Recipe)]
The elven girl grinned wide, happy that she got so new recipes too, sothing told her they would require herbs foreign to Bloom Haven.
----------
Yvlena walked into Risel's shop to find the other elven girl sulking. Yvlena tilted her head and walked up to the counter.
"What's the matter Risel? Are your shelves dirty again?" she giggled. Risel sighed, nearly falling forward from the way she hung her head in despair.
"It's that foreign rchant taking all my custors Yvlena!"
"Aww well he's only here for a week Risel, so chin up," Yvlena said flashing the elven alchemist a wink.
"Oh, you," Risel said with a blush. "What do you need?"
"I need a blacksmith to upgrade my sword, do you happen to know of any within the Artisan District?" Yvlena asked. She figured Risel would be her best bet if she wanted to find soone within the Artisan district.
The Elven girl's head perked up.
"Well, there is one around here, not too far from the shop," Risel said. She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot as she tried to recall the directions.
"Exit the Apothecary and go West all the way down. The clanging of iron should let you know when you've made it. Look for Soren, he's one of the best!" Risel said.
Yvlena nodded and rushed out the door.
----------
Aya logged out of the ga for the day, she held the Revista breathing hard. She rested the headset on her chest and took deep breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart.
"Playing the ga is so physically intensive even when I'm just lying down," Aya said. Her stomach rumbled and seemingly all at once her bodily functions erupted in a series of discomfort.
She rose from her bed in a panic and rushed to the bathroom.
Aya returned once more to her tiny kitchen to make sothing quick and easy. The ga made her think the tea and biscuits were a substantial snack but being out in her real world, her body reminded her it needed sothing a bit more...tangible.
"Omurice sounds right and I have the ingredients too!" Aya said, she picked up her phone and opened a simple recipe on the BooTube app.
She took the ingredients out of her dingy little fridge and got to cooking. Soon the sll of fresh olets ca wafting through her house.
A knock echoed on her door, followed by a voice.
"Aya it's ," Mars said through the thin wood. The girl lowered her stove and crossed the room speedily to open the door for her friend.
"Hi," Aya said with a warm smile. Mars greeted her by resting a hand on her head and ruffling it around.
"Sothing slls good." The taller girl said as she stepped in. She spent her ti looking around the small one bedroom apartnt if it could even be called that.
Mars wrinkled her nose and thought Aya did a good job of keeping the apartnt clean. But it couldn't be fun to live like this. Things were held together by shoddy carpentry or tape and it was clear the only things that worked were things Aya might have fixed herself.
The place was falling apart.
"You're lucky I accidentally made more than I could eat," Aya said serving the food.
Mars raised an eyebrow at her brazenness.
"You don't even know if I've had dinner?"
"Have you?" Aya asked with a cheeky smirk, she pushed the plate forward again sliding in a cute animal thed fork resembling a wolf. Mars leaned forward, closing her fingers around the plate's edge.
"No Aya I have not," She said slowly and purposefully. Aya blushed to the tips of her ears. Her friend could be so weird.
"W-Well that's good then, uh enjoy the food," Aya said, turning away abruptly to get so water and soda from her fridge.
Mars chuckled at the girl's red face and obvious attempt to hide it. She made herself comfortable in the kitchen chair.
"Cute," She said in regards to the fork
Soon Aya sat down for dinner and the two girls, in pleasant company, began to eat and talk about their day.
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