Rioneed: VRMMORPG

Chapter 442: Vol 10: The Strange Voice Request

That meant she would lose this test, and by that she would leave here and that headache and these words better to be gone by then. She followed the NPC inside this studio, to see a familiar scene in front of her, as there was a long table in the middle of this studio with a hanged screen in the middle of it. 

Oya knew this would be the main forging table, and this screen might be the one to help her in doing this. On the three walls of the studio, there were other small tables with many materials over them. 

These were the materials needed for forging. The NPC moved to these tables and took some materials out of there and then put them all over the middle table while saying:

"I will give you one day here, this studio is very unique, as it interacts with the blacksmith directly and tries to enhance the weak spots in his craft and skills. Use this opportunity well, it's not easy to enter a platinum grade forging studio everyday."

She then smiled and was about to leave. Oya was speechless when she knew this studio was a platinum grade studio, as studios for lifestyle players were divided into ranks as well. 

She knew how precious this studio was, as she was responsible for renting such studios for her guild lifestyle players, as the gold rank studio being the highest studio she rented ever.

"Thanks for this opportunity, but I need to ask about something, is there any forging design I could use here?"

"Forging design?" the NPC aske, "It's part of your test to have you improvise and forge something out of your soul. If you can't do it, then you will fail. 

Forging designs aren't inherited, but created, and I need my apprentices to be able to do this simple task. One day only here, after that you either win it or lose it."

Oya followed the steps of this NPC until she vanished behind the thick door of this studio which she closed behind her. Oya took a deep breath, as her mind was strangely clear and her heart was calm. 

She was supposed to be worried, anxious, or perhaps agitated, but she wasn't, which made her wonder about what was going on exactly here.

'So many coincidences don't mean it's one,' She muttered to herself as she went over to the table to inspect it. She had some vague memories about blacksmiths, so she wasn't feeling blue here. the table had many buttons on it, which was something confusing to her. 

She knew forging tables would have helping buttons, like inspecting button, preview button, simulation button, adjustment button, and other useful buttons, but not as many as these buttons here. The best thing to learn now was to try out these buttons practically and see what they were used for. 

She picked up two materials as she put them on the table, then she started to use the buttons one by one. Each time, she felt some echo inside her soul, like a drum being hit one time after another, slowly but steady. Each time she pressed a button, she felt strangely like that.

'What's going on to me,' she asked as she stopped what she was doing. She couldn't just look away and ignore this change in her, but she didn't know what she had to do, or what relation it had with blacksmith.

'That's enough, I have to leave here and never come back again,' she decided so in her mind. As she was about to leave heading towards the door, she heard a faint sound coming from behind her, coming from the table. 

She turned to see the two materials she put there were floating in the air hitting each other, dancing with one another. Just as she stood there, other materials began to leave their places like being pulled by a magnet and started to float above the table one after another. 

In minutes, the whole room was empty of materials as they were now lumping up together and started to melt down slowly. In front of her, the big lump of materials got shrunk slowly, but visibly, while a milky white fluid began to emanate from it. 

Oya felt some connection between her soul and this milky white fluid, it was as if deep hunger inside her soul was awakened, she wanted to drink that fluid, she wanted to do that urgently.

'What's happening to me?!' Oya didn't follow her instincts as she lay on the ground leaning her head over her knees. Her body was shivering involuntary, as she considered logging off tha game for now and taking a day off. 

She thought she was exhausted mentally and emotionally through all the recent events that started by Ibro's disappearance. Just as she was about to take out a return scroll of Shonty city, she heard a soft voice echoing in her mind:

'Please don't, Ibro is in desperate need of your help.'

This voice and these words made her stop what she was doing and forsake whatever she intended to do. This voice was her own voice, but what made her really stop was the mention of Ibro.

'What do you mean Ibro is in need of my help?'

'I can't explain now, as my energy reserves are depleting. Wait for a few minutes here and then you will understand everything,' the voice said.

Oya thought for a while before asking seriously:

'What guarantee do I have for you not scheming something bad to me?'

'Ashley code,' the voice answered vaguely.

'I beg your pardon?'

'Ashley code, the code you invented, I also know about it as I also used it back in my days,' the voice replied.

'Knowing Ashley code alone isn't enough to make me trust you.'

'I know, but at least you trusted Ibro at first because of it, right?' the voice said with haste, and then it added before Oya could say anymore, 'my power reserves are about to deplete. 

I don't have more time, but if you left here I will disintegrate and you will lose your only chance to really help Ibro in his quest. Ibro is in danger, and you alone can save him in the near future, so it's up to you to decide.'

Oya looked strangely towards the lump of materials that kept melting, the voice didn't come from these materials, but from that milky fluid coming out from them. She stood silently in her place hesitating, what should she do? Should she believe this voice? Or should she ignore it and leave?