The lampposts of Asniels served an important purpose. These lampposts, equipped with a special and magical, light-generating component, were the only reason safe travel between settlements was still possible. This light, the same in nature as the light that came from far above, repelled the many undead that terrorized the lands of Asniels.

These lights, however, were not eternal and they were not infinite in their reach. For that reason, there were many posts and there were denizens who worked as repairmen and maintainers. Where the stretch between settlements was far too wide, these brave denizens would be there to help. Along certain points, these denizens had tiny camps, midway camps, of three or four cottages. They would live there for ten days at a time, and make the repair and maintenance of long stretches easier to manage. They were the backbone of Asniels' surviving civilization.

***

One such repairman, a well-built and rugged young man, was currently on the ground, compressing himself into the fetal position. He was covering his head, protecting himself from the stomping and the clawing of four skeletons.

He had been going about his routine, checking on the component in the lampposts along a certain stretch of road. What he did not know was that the particular post he was checking had been due for a replacement—a replacement that didn’t happen because another repairman had neglected to make note of the fact that they had run out of replacement components and that the lamppost was vulnerable.

Tragedies were almost always born of simple acts of negligence.

The light had gone off right as the man was on his step-stool, checking. The undead that haunted these grounds wasted no time. They jumped out from thickets and rocks and pulled the repairman into the darker patch, away from the road, and began beating him.

The skeletons—known to the locals as Laughing Bones officially, were known to be sadistic. They had the strength to kill a denizen easily, but they preferred to enjoy the process. They enjoyed inflicting pain slowly as they chattered away in ecstasy.

Unfortunately for them, they were very incompatible with someone who enjoyed destroying quickly and surely.

Suddenly, the chattering was replaced with cracks and splinters—the man on the ground noticed pressure being relieved from two spots on his back. Soon after, the kicking stopped but the chattering kept going—it sounded like the skeletons were running toward someone.

The man sneaked a look from beneath his arm. He saw the beat-up man with a ball and chain in his grip—he saw Mickey.

One of the skeletons went in on Mickey, sharply ducking from his Ball&Chain, and landing a shoulder-digging tackle into Mickey’s abdomen. Mickey gasped, all the air being pushed out of him. All the while, he noticed the second skeleton coming to jump him while the first held him in place. From his back, his third hand came and grabbed the approaching skeleton’s head, stalling it.

With spiked ball in hand, Mickey bashed in the head of the skeleton holding onto his torso. With an ear-splitting crack, the skeleton’s grip loosened, and Mickey whipped his arm around at the skeleton held by his extra hand, nailing it in the temple with a spike. That skeleton fell, stunned, and Mickey jumped on it, pummeling it with the spiked ball until the head was as fine as sand.

“Reject,” Mickey muttered, standing up with his hand on his abdomen. Mickey narrowed his eyes at the two skeletons he had previously knocked off of the repairman. He spun the spiked ball vertically, building up speed and with an overhead slam, pulverized the third skull before repeating the same motion and pulverizing the fourth.

He caught his breath and lightly shook his head. “Okay, that was all of them.” He went over to the denizen and extended his hand. “Hey, are you okay?”

The repairman felt immense relief as he took hold of Mickey’s hand.

Mickey and the repairman walked back to a lit patch of road. All the while Mickey inwardly remarked how handy the map feature was. Truth be told, they were far from where the camp was on the map—maybe some twenty minutes away. Because of that, he was very surprised when he noticed that the marker was slightly off the road. Seeing how it turned out however gave Mickey renewed confidence in the quest tracking system, though he was curious how the tracking system would handle a quest where Mickey had to search for something hidden.

Still, a crisis was averted. The recipient of the package was found and rescued. All in all, it was a good starter quest. All that was left was to finish it.

“Here, I’ve got this package for you.”

Mickey flicked his hand and the package appeared. Just like with the Slate, it turned out the backpack had the handy feature to allow Mickey to pull whatever he wanted out of the bag without having to actually physically open it. Though, funnily enough, Mickey had also discovered that there were settings that allowed for a more realistic experience.

“Oh… These are… Replacements! I had heard that we were running out. Thank you!” said the repairman. "Darn, so much trouble could have been avoided if the last guy just made a note of which bulbs were about to go out."

“Yeah, I was told there was a mistake in some paperwork. Or something like that. Your grandma had these at her house.”

“Is that right? I didn’t know Torea had components prepared this time around.”

“Honestly, sounds like a simple mistake, right? Sorry for the trouble it caused you, though.”

The repairman, square-faced with a simple-looking gaze, cocked his head. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Trailblazer. In fact, I should be thanking you! You saved me; I really appreciate it. Thank you!”

“No problem, glad I could help.”

The repairman stared at Mickey blankly and with a goofy smile as Mickey became more and more unnerved.

“I-Is something the matte—”

“You look really roughed up, Trailblazer. Are you okay?”

“Oh, this?” Mickey inspected his body. He had a few more cuts and his clothes were a bit dirtier than when he first set out. “I ran into a few skeletons on my way here.”

As it turned out, that was an understatement. Mickey had come across a grand total of fourteen skeletons beyond the first seven he initially encountered. He couldn’t just leave them be—he destroyed all of them. In the process, however, he picked up more damage that he hadn’t bothered healing just yet.

What was more surprising to Mickey was that the man in front of him noticed. It was an awkward exchange, but it made Mickey feel warm.

“Anyway, don’t worry about me. I’m good.”

“If you say so, Trailblazer. Let me go replace that component now—can’t have more people getting ambushed, right?”

“Definitely,” Mickey followed. “I’ll protect you in case more skeletons show up.”

“Really?” The repairman gave a hearty laugh. “Thanks! You’re a real swell Trailblazer.”

As the repairman got to replacing the bulb, Mickey took his position in the dark patch. In his estimation, he felt this would quickly become a protect-the-NPC quest. As if to prove him right, three more skeletons came shambling out of the darkness as soon as the replacing began.

Mickey greeted the chatterers with his spiked ball, spinning it with a level of control born from having over twenty practice targets beforehand. The three skeletons were smashed, their heads ripped off, with a few pummels for surety from Mickey.

“Wow. You’re so strong, Trailblazer!” the repairman cheered from beneath the safety of the new light.

“Yeah, I think I’m getting better at handling it myself,” Mickey said, walking back to the light.

“Wow. You sure looked like a pro to me! Well, I’m done here. I’m going to head back to the camp. Thanks again, Trailblazer”

It was all very swift—as soon as the job was done and the thanks were dispensed, the repairman was off with parcel in hand, leaving Mickey looking at him curiously from behind.

That was a really 'NPC' interaction, Mickey thought as he pulled out his Slate. Hold on… What’s this?

Mickey noticed some new alerts—updates to his quests. The delivery quest was marked to be complete and ready to be turned in, but more interestingly, he had been notified that he completed another quest.

***

Instance Quest

Protect Lonnie, the Lamppost Repairman

Lonnie needs to replace a part, but having just been attacked, chances are that he will be attacked again. Protect Lonnie while he does his duty to the people of Asniels.

Rewards:[Activator]Skill Bit, 25EXP, 45EX-EXP

[Quest Completed. Rewards have been delivered/applied.]

***

So his name was Lonnie… And this quest—so helping him wasn’t part of the first quest? Well then… that makes things more complex. I’ll have to be careful not to miss content in the future.

Mickey looked to Lonnie, further down the street and focused back on his Slate.

What time is it anyway? Oh whoa—I really lost track of time.

Mickey’s Slate had a clock—just like a phone would—but he didn’t actively keep track of it. There was however also a play-time counter and according to that, he had been playing for a little over three hours. By his estimation, the stretch of road between his current position and town must have taken him more than an hour to walk. Not that he noticed as he was too engrossed in defeating skeletons.

Seeing the play-time however, saddened him. I almost have to log out. Mickey shook his head and ran up the road to catch up with Lonnie. “Hey, Lonnie, wait up!”

Lonnie stopped and waved at Mickey. “Is something the matter, Trailblazer?”

“No,” Mickey replied, joining Lonnie and gesturing to keep walking. “I just thought I’d walk with you to your camp. If you don’t mind of course.”

Lonnie wore a goofy grin. “A Trailblazer wants to walk with me? I won’t say no to that.”

“Sweet,” Mickey replied. Might as well explore as much as I can before four hours have passed. Maybe I’ll find something that I can use to justify playing longer too.

Mickey chuckled with anticipation as he and Lonnie continued down the road.

“My name’s Mickey, by the way.”

“Good to meet you, Tralas Mick!”