บท 52: 10.1.5 Particle Effects?

Rolling my neck, I precariously walked along the shoreline, bits of sand and tiny errors shooting right past me as the waves crashed just to my left. There wasn't a lot of space on the shore, and I highly doubted that anyone would dare to build what was ostensibly a defensive building on top of literal sand. But one could never know, especially in a world where a giant floating rock could somehow house an entire administrative city.

"Where is that damn thing..."

Letting out another sigh, I kept my pace through my path, my eyes peeled for any sign of civilization that could be lurking in the darkness. It really didn't help that the errors were actually jarringly bright against the general lack of lighting all over the place.

"Stranger!"

My ears perked up at Shizu's voice. Quickly looking up, she was waving at me from above before pointing towards the right-hand peninsula.

"It's over there!" she called out.

I smiled, "Well, let's get a move one then!"

Smiling back at me, the princess gave me a nod before she... She actually jumped off the cliff! "Shizu!"

"Woohoo!"

I was too far away from her to even react. Still, I tried running to her as fast as I could to at least try and attempt to catch her. If all else, I'd be able to give basic first aid if-

[*Thud*]

-If it was ever needed...

Sand and rubble flew up in the air as Shizu nailed her landing. There was a small crater below her, and the princess was all smiles as she casually walked towards me as if she hadn't just done something as stupid as almost falling to her death.

"Wow! I'm so strong!" she beamed at me, her innocence more annoying than endearing at the moment.

"You could've died," I deadpanned. "I don't have any ways of healing you, and you would've bled to death on the ground if you couldn't take the fall."

"But I could though," Shizu smiled. "And it was fun."

"Right..." I trailed off before pointing to our right. "Anywho, it's over by the edge of the peninsula there?"

"Yep," she beamed. "I can't wait for the next part too!"

I blinked, "Next part?"

At my question, Shizu actually looked surprised before a smug smirk stretched itself over her elegant features. "Oh you don't know? Even after I let the 'Elden Script' play out for you? Well, you'll find out eventually..."

I chuckled, "Ominous much?"

"As much as I like tagging alongside you, Stranger, you haven't really paid attention to the world around you," Shizu scoffed. "Though I guess I can't blame you for it. [Somatics] are known for their eccentricities."

Oh boy... I could only guess what was about to happen. Also, eccentricities? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

In retrospect, I probably should've expected this.

"Shizu?"

"Yes?"

The smirk on the princess's face made me roll my eyes in actual annoyance. Here we were, in the middle of what looked to be a ghost town of a port, and yet she still had the capacity to make fun of me? Wasn't this a part of her supposedly beloved empire?

[Reach the Kattleynan Outpost COMPLETE]

"Uhh... We're in the outpost now?" I sarcastically questioned, a hand outstretched as I presented the sight to her. "I don't know what to do next?"

To my words, Shizu simply placed a hand on her chin as she smiled, "And pray tell, what do you think should you do next, Stranger?"

I blinked at her utter audacity. "You just repeated my question back to me."

"Exactly," she smirked. "While I won't lie that the sight before us is ghastly and heartbreaking, at least I'm getting some levity by watching you struggle."

Wow....

Shaking my head, I sighed as I turned my attention back to the aforementioned ghost town we found ourselves in. Overlooking the error soup that was the [Shallow Deep], buildings in various states of disrepair littered the small outpost as far as the eye could see. There were a few small craters on the ground, and the main lighthouse pointing out to sea had been broken right in the middle, its ruins scattered all throughout the area as scorch marks revealed the places where fire had consumed it.

Letting out a sigh, I walked on forward, trying to find some sort of trigger to progress the quest somehow.

"What're you doing?"

"Exploring," I tersely replied. "Since you won't tell me what to do, I might as well see if I could figure it out myself."

Leaving her alone, I first set my sights on the abandoned building just beside the lighthouse ruins. It had been burned badly, it would seem, with charcoal scattered all throughout the sides of it as its roof almost glowed gray with ash.

Well, I suppose I might as well start...

⬛⬛⬛

[Investigate the area COMPLETE]

"And what did we learn?"

I let out a heavy sigh as Shizu fashioned herself as a guide again, actually talking down on me as if I was some kind of tourist that strayed off the beaten path. Well too bad for her, the quest actually updated as soon as I set foot inside what I now knew to be the post office before it got destroyed. It actually told me to investigate further, which was why I found myself searching every nook and cranny for some kind of clue that would make the marker disappear. Still, I don't get why she was being so difficult all of a sudden?

"I learned that a battle took place here," I sarcastically scoffed, making sure that she see me doing it right in front of her. "Some kind of explosions rang out, based on the scorch marks, making fire erupt all throughout the area."

Shizu looked at me with a scrutinizing eye before she eventually dropped the act and let out a sigh of her own. "Well, it was fun while it lasted... This is a nightmare..."

I would've patted her on the back right then and there if she hadn't been annoying to me for the past hour. I could relate to seeing what were once proud buildings being reduced to rubble like this. And I wasn't just pulling this out of my own imagination. With pretty much all of the infrastructure gone, what was once surely a thriving outpost was now a veritable reminder of what could've been.