A Venture for a Venture

”-mine, forget about it!”
”-ace, what is this place!?”
”I don’t understand, what’s going on?”

Lucrystia opened her eyes, wincing at the beam of light meeting her face. She knew this sensation, this experience, and yet it felt new to her every time. It didn’t take her long to piece together the muffled sentences of the voices that had woken her up. Lucrystia looked to her left. She wasn’t alone. It was the same thing every time. Endless beams of light, stretching as far as she could see, and at their focal point, a person… A Retainer, like herself. Doubtlessly on a quest to retrieve important items for the benefactors, their masters.
From what she could glean, at least 5 of the nearby people were new to these 'Ventures' and had no clue what was going on. “No wonder”, Lucrystia thought to herself. The first time was always the scariest. A dark room, like an infinite space with no floor or ceiling. Just empty air, with lights beaming down from some unknown plane of existence.

A quiet thunderous sound started rising in volume. Lucrystia knew what this meant. At any moment now, the beams of light would fade, giving room to a random environment ranging from grassy fields to dry deserts. The trick was you never knew what till it happened.
She would have a set amount of time to procure a splendid item for her Master before being called back; less than an hour at this point.
It wasn’t her usual Field Exploration where she knew her way around, this could be anything. At least she knew her co-workers were currently off searching for things like Floss Silk and Gestahl, but Lucrystia still wanted to bring back something of value.

As anticipated, the lightbeams faded and a natural light paved the way for a spectacular sight. A grand treasury, full of all the desirable items you could ever dream of. It gave cause to wonder where in Eorzea this kind of parallel world existed.
There was however no time to think, everyone immediately set in motion, rushing to find something of value. Lucrystia clutched her fist, her lucky crystal caught within.

For half an hour, Lucrystia used her axe to parry the blows of other retainers, smack them in their faces with the grip, and maneuver her way past every adversary trying to get to the goods first. A Polar Bear almost caught her off guard with a nasty left paw, but she narrowly evaded it, bent her wrist in a retaliating motion and struck true with her axe. The beast was dead.
There, behind the body of the fallen bear, she saw it. Everything within her reach, all she had to do was choose. She had made it; she had beaten her competition, and now chose her reward between all the wondrous, rare artifacts.

Mor Dhona – 1PM ET

“My lord, the venture you bid me undertake has been finished”
You obtain a >Mudstone.

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Character: Preludis Crystallum
Server: Moogle
Item: Scarf of Wondrous Wit (last one I need!)

NOTE 1: The post itself is over 500 words but the short story IS precisely 500 words, including headline.
NOTE 2: No Polar Beers were further driven towards extinction during the making of this short story.