The First Strike [Open]

[Ragnarok]

    Elder Tale. This was the new life that anyone from across the world, who decided to log into their profile's character, would end up living. For some people, they felt as if there was nothing they could do. Those people were scared to death, and just wanted to go back to the kind arms of their family, while others were ready to embrace this new life. Gaming was their life and so that group of people were prepared. Ragnarok himself wanted to return to the real world with his family and friends and everyone there, but Elder Tale was a new experience. With the given that no one could log out of their profiles, Ragnarok decided to espouse this reality. "If there's no way out, then I might as well go all the way." He kept a leveled head throughout his reconnaissance in the Londenium, the name that the Half-Gaia's London was given which Ragnarok was able to eavesdrop the name off of some players as well as hearing it commonly used amongst the People of the Land. After all of that survey duty done, Ragnarok decided to leave from the city, making his way towards the Windsor Greatwood, on hopes that he would be able to make his first kill of what would probably be many.

    Yet, throughout the movement from the city to the valley, Ragnarok felt a weird feeling come over him. It wasn't fear or happiness, or even pride. The sentiment that Ragnarok held in his heart, was the feeling of diminution. He didn't have his friends to keep him company, and so far, the only people he talked to were the Chefs from the St. Pancras Station who had shown him that the menu-created food in Elder Tale tasted like stale or soggy crackers, based on one's tastes. Ragnarok's real-life friends were somewhere in the game, but he wasn't able to locate them throughout Londenium nor could he be able to instant message them on some client. He felt lost, as if a void had been created in his heart, but he had to push on. In no time, he would hopefully find his friends or make new friends with the community; however, Ragnarok had to keep his head on the game. He didn't want his first battle's results to end up with him having to revive at the Cathedral, if that was how it worked. As if by some trigger memory, Ragnarok couldn't help but reflect on his past. "Hmm...What if this reality is like that one Anime that I saw which basically killed off the players if they died in-game...Nah!" Ragnarok laughed wholeheartedly at the idea, knowing that no magical force in a video game could do that.

    In about ten minute's time, Ragnarok had finally reached the Windsor Greatwood. When he looked at the entire zone, he just couldn't form the words in his mouth, "Wow...The zone is quite large, as expected of course, but I've never even seen it so detailed." In the distance, off on the sides of the main road, Ragnarok could see several different players already hunting. Some of them had already formed parties, and less were soloing enemies on their own. "Well, I guess I might as well get started. Now...Most of the areas are taken, so might as well start at a part where it's the least populated." Ragnarok wandered into his thoughts, thinking about how he would take a group of monsters out if he did encounter several as he advanced towards one of the more vacant hunting areas. "Okay, calm down. You can do this. Just remember all of the other games you've played in. Hopefully, the same kind of combat will apply to this." Ragnarok had never taken any classes on self-defense in real life, nor did he ever learn how to wield a sword, but there was something about his body that affected his mind, telling him that he knew how to fight with a sword. He calmed down his breathing, and placed his hand on the hilt of his katana, gripping it as if he was about to die in real-life.  Without knowing what he was doing, Ragnarok activated his Tracker Skill: Silent Move. His movement slowed down 50%, but his footsteps couldn't be heard. "Okay...For some reason, I can do that. Maybe it just has to do with the mind and how one can synchronize with their entire character," Ragnarok continued onward, keeping on his goal, waiting to spot any target in his peripheral vision, "If I can perform Silent Move without any problems, then maybe I can do the same with Quick Draw. I just have to relax my body, and let the actions go through. That's it." Ragnarok calmed down, took one more breath, and loosened his hand on the katana.

    Soon enough, Ragnarok reached to his target point, crouching down in a patch of grass, surveying his surroundings. Silent Move was still active throughout the entire time, just in case he had to move around from patch to bush to get a better look. In the plains that lied here, Ragnarok was able to locate three Young Pittered Boars, two level 3, and one was level 2, by a bush that held an assortment of fruits. Ragnarok could easily see that three were divulging themselves with the deliciousness of the ripe eatery. He exhaled once, gripping his katana tightly, ready to lash out at the three, at the correct moment. "Okay...Three of them...If I can take down the level 2 with Quick Draw and a few slashes, I'll have an easier time taking down the other two. Remember the cooldown on Quick Draw, and use it at the right time. Relax...You can do this Oswald...er...Ragnarok...Ragna...Ragna sounds better." Ragnarok waited in the patch for a while, giving him enough time to think through his process as well as waiting for the right time to strike. This was his first battle, and if he messed this up, this would tell a whole lot about himself and the game.

WC: 1009

[Valanthe Nailo]

It was an odd turn of events, and frankly some things that Jovia had done for her new character Valanthe was a good decision on her part. Having decided with her friends to make new characters for the update, she went from a male cleric to a female druid as she was now. Even going so far as to make her look like herself in real life, because frankly she knew how to move around in this body and that pain in her back was gone. Wait it was gone!! She could... could... no she couldn't she was in the game and she would still have the back problems when she got out. If... if they ever at all got out, quickly she shook her head and smacked her cheeks. No she had to keep herself upbeat and going, things would get fixed this was just a bug... a glitch!! That was it and they would be out of there in no time, why not just enjoy life and the fact she was healthy!

Vala couldn't help with her thoughts though, especially with how everyone in the city was bemoaning their predicament and wouldn't shut up about it. Sadly as well that the food tasted nasty when prepared by everyone too, at first she thought it was great she picked Chef like she did since everyone was stuck. Oh well, she would have to live with what she was and had, along with her appearance which was a plus. She wasn't like some people who looked so different from real life they were having trouble even walking around normally. Maybe some fighting would help her, though considering she could only heal it was going to be a long day with her whips. The fox tail made her way out of the city, towards the Windsor Greatwood, everything looked somewhat familiar but different at the same time. So if she recalled correctly, and heard others speak up, this area would help her the best in her fighting.

Carefully she held a whip in each hand, part of her wished she had actually gone with a sword and a shield but she didn't have the gold to buy such things either. Maybe though, just maybe she could get stuff from these monsters to sell and make food with so she could start saving every bit of money she made. A little grin spread over her face, it was time to get cooking, not literal though since she didn't have any fire spells at her disposal. "So let me see.... I have Heartbeat Healing, my leather armor, and my two whips.... I won't be as effective at healing without a wand or staff but I might do more damage with the whips so the fight wouldn't last as long as that so my mana won't have as much of a drain. Possibly making this for right now better for me in the long run without someone else to do the damage for me." Frankly it was falling into place, as long as she could find some people to group with her to start tearing things up out here and get stronger. Who knew, maybe even with the food tasting like crap people would still need it so she would be in business anyways.

Thoughts of opening a restaurant for some ways of making gold, and charging for her healing, started to drift through her mind. Vala quickly shook her head and started to glance about her for anything she could dig up or grab, a plant of some sort for a food ingredient. Words lit up in front of her that she had started the harvest command and it was going through what it would normally do? With a slight frown she reached up to press the air to bring up the menu, at least this thing hadn't really changed and seemed to comfort her. "Alright so I can use my abilities just by pressing them in the air here.... so THAT is what they meant in the city... Bloody... Alright so it lists things here and there and..." Her voice grew quiet as some text nearby showed up, apparently there were a few low level boars over near a tree with fruit on it. Fruit just as she would need!! But wait... wouldn't there be meat they could use as well? Her eyes fell on the young boars again, they were a few levels higher then her but maybe she could win this. Her hands tightened around the handles of the whips in her hands as she slowly started to approach, a glance around here and there she didn't notice the person hiding in the grass nor any of the other adult boars around.

Word Count: 789
OOC - Activated Harvest for the Thread till Closed

[Darko Lipowitz]

The cloaked young boy was off again for Windsor Greatwood today. It had seemed that a Lander got his stocks of pork empty and was willing to pay for someone to hand him another stock of pork for the next month. But the boy felt as if he would never want to give that man, let alone other Landers, the necessary meat or other ingredients to make their dishes for their restaurants. What they were cooking was too bland for his taste, and the texture of their meat were utterly ridiculous. Their bread were either too stale or too soggy, and, as he wondered, why do everything that the Landers cook were of the same taste: bland, tasteless, and disgusting to eat? He had hoped that some player would actually assume the position of being chefs and cooks so that they would have their share of delicious food, which they could enjoy in this world. At least they would have satisfaction: They would eat to satisfy their emotional needs, rather than they would just eat for them not to receive serious debuffs while they were hunting. And satisfaction will help them push harder into every situation.

His current targets were Young Pittered Boars, and he needed to hunt 10 of them for that Lander who might have been from S.S. Diarrhea due to his horribly tasting dishes. Of course he would hunt more than that, to find some chef who was also a player to cook it for him. He was sick and tired of eating rubbish food; he wanted to have a taste of something that would remind him of the former world. And so, with that thing in mind, he journeyed towards the Greatwood for the second time.

After searching for every corner for some Young Pittered Boars, he finally found one. Or three of them for that matter, clustering on a plant which had some fruit which the boars were eating. He also saw some more boars from a distance, chewing on the same fruit  as the three nearer to him. As he moved forward to attack, however, he saw another person (Ragnarok) who had also spotted the pigs, but, for some reason, he did not attack yet. A close examination on the person would show that he was psyching himself for an attack that would take the boars with surprise. He then hid himself in a bush, and watched the person from afar.

"I got your back here, so don't hesitate," he muttered towards the person, but he would not let his voice reach the other party. He then waited for the person to strike, in which in that moment he would cast the spell Serpent Bolt towards him, to give him supportive offense so that he could eliminate the boars without a sweat.

[Kumori]

Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%

"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."

Kumori was looking around the lobby of his Guild House. It seemed most were either in their rooms or elsewhere. It was his chance to take his leave now from his own home. Was he scared? Yes. Was it warranted? Probably not. As he peaked his head through and began silently walking through the hall, careful not to notify anyone of his leave. He was moving slowly, but he’d rather move slowly than to move quickly and gain the attention of his fellow guild members who knew he was supposed to be working on paperwork amongst other things. As he inched towards the door, he could smell the morning dew outside, knowing that his freedom was only a couple steps away. Screech the sound of someone’s door was opening. “Oh crap…” he said under his breath. He didn’t bother keeping his silent move as he knew he was about to be found, so instead, he darted for the outside and towards the Windsor Greatwoods.

Kumori was on his way towards the Windsor Castle. He typically liked to relax there without being hindered by his guild members who wanted him to keep working. He was a guild leader, and yet here he was being forced into slavery by his members. The constant nagging from Jojo, the almost always silent requests of Kyuu, and just complete insanity when he was at the Guild house when he had so many other things he wanted to do, like how he wanted to explore. He was going crazy! He just wanted some time to himself, and so here he was, walking in the Greatwood towards the castle.

Now Ryuu was the kind of guy who didn’t mind getting busy, but he also liked taking his breaks every once in a while. If he wasn’t given time to recuperate or think, he’d go crazy and he’d have to take some time off and just walk it off. It was a regular occurrence, though most of the time when he returned home, he’d be scolded by Jojo. Most of the time, it was avoidable, oh who was he kidding, they were never avoidable. The kicks, the slaps, the kisses. They weren’t always bad… Ryuu was sort of a masochist… slightly. While he’ll deny it, all evidence points to it being true, which is why he still keeps his guild and hasn’t given up on it yet.

While he usually didn’t pay attention to the monsters here, it was impossible, this time around, to ignore them when so many people were training, especially if they were lower level and they decided to go for the highest level character in the area… himself. Ryuu smacked himself in the head as the Pittered Boars followed after him. He didn’t even bother fighting them off, instead he just continued to walk and walk until a low-level adventurer would claim the life of these poor boars that really didn’t know the monster they were chasing.

Ryuu’s walk was so nonchalant, that if he got hit, he wouldn’t even budge. The regeneration rate was high enough so that these level 1-5 boars didn’t do much to him to be a nuisance. “Atrophy Trinket would be useful now… but that’s just a waste of mana,” he sighed as he continued walking through the thickness of the forest. Unbeknownst to him were two adventurers lying in wait, ready to attack the boars, or was it Ryuu? Well it did not matter. Ryuu wasn’t all that afraid of the people around here. Usually he was the one helping people train, but even times like these, breaks were necessary.

He stopped for to look around, noticing that there were three people who were surrounding the boars that were following him. The boars took advantage of his stopped position and began pecking away slowly at his HP. He sighed loudly towards the three who were present and then finally said: “If you want the experience, you might want to come and kill these boars before I kill them for you,” he said to them. He would wait patiently? Well as patiently as he could with 4 or 5 boars whittling away at his HP. Well, his patience was dwindling at a much faster pace than his HP was, but he’d give the other two a chance to attack and gain some xp while he tanked for them for free. I swear, if I don’t get a guild member from this, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself, he thought to himself.

OOC NOTES: 756 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Shepard Dagon]

Hunting the escapist.

The guild base wasn't that funny when it comes about paperwork, but it was something Shepard wasn't supposed to do, since it was the Guild Master's job. The sound of the slowly screech coming from the door gave Shepard the idea of what was going on, so following some tasks given by Caer one day, he followed the evasive Kumori to Windsor Greatwoods taking shortcuts and avoiding the assassin's glance at all times, managing to do a perfect, silent pursuit of the escapist.

When Kumori stopped a few players were tempted to take care of the party of boars that were fooling around the assassin, Shepard could recognize the mage, yet the other two were complete strangers. Shepard came down the tree he was on and waited until Kumori got distracted, then he slowly got behind him and touched his back 3 times, trying to ignore the frenzied boars and the players as he didn't saw them.

-Shepard-
Caer and Jojo will know about this...

He said with a grim tone of voice wanting to be as scary as he can, just for the fun of doing so, but that was indeed the reason of his presence in that place. 
The creep smile he gave to the assassin accompanied with those words surely did the job.

-Shepard-
They are sure taking their time, and you have paperwork to do.

He continued just to make Kumori break a sweat, then the shaman summoned his shikigami and made a few steps back, laying against a tree while the shikigami went were the others and made some signals to get them in the fight, as always the shaman still distrusted people, so he preferred to avoid having any contact that might end bad.

Shepard still was going to help those guys if a problem came up, but it was unnecessary at the moment, the shikigami will do.

The wolf just looked at the members from a fair distance, willing to avoid any small talk. So instead of losing more time, the shikigami was commanded to gather the other five boars missing apart from those who Kumori had. After doing so Shepard barrier him and kept the barrier charged with his channeling, since the boar's damage was minimum, the mana cost of keeping the barrier at 100% was also minimum. Now they got no more choice that attack once for all, Kumori and Shepard took out the job of searching the creatures, so seeing the lack of response the wolf mumbled.

-Shepard-
What are you waiting for...

[Ragnarok]

    "What...What am I waiting for...?" In only a few minutes, a total of three people had turned up out of nowhere. Ragnarok thought to himself, saying that maybe it wasn't worth trying to fit like your class. "What's the point of a role-play class if nobody will actually decide to fit their class? Look at that guy! He's just standing there when he can easily take out those boars himself." Ragnarok sighed in his cover, noting that when what-seemed-to-be another Assassin appeared, he had attracted the attention of any nearby boar, more specifically, five level 5 Young Pitted Boars. "Ugh...I hate these kind of people...Even that side comment about us wanting experience. I'd show him a thing or two if I wasn't this low-leveled..." Ragnarok readied his blade, growling in his position as he readied his body, wanting to attack the Assassin in addition to the five aggroed boars; however, some mystical force sent a small chill down his spine.

    Meters away, Ragnarok saw some kind of humanoid spirit giving signals to the Fox Tail, Druid as well as what looked like to be some other player in a bush that overlooked his own position. "Hmm...A spirit...What were these things called again?" upon closer inspection, Ragnarok was able to notice the information tag on the spirit appear, "A...Shikigami...It's controlled by another player, but who?" The wary Assassin looked around the plains, trying to spot whoever summoned it; however, his skills in locating weren't anything special, and he decided that he'd look for the one later. The Shikigami soon came flying towards himself, ready to give a message of some kind. Ragnarok stayed down at his position, to keep himself hidden as if it was still just another espionage game. The spirit stopped a few meters away from Ragnarok, pointing towards the boars that were surrounding the level 36 Assassin. "You really expect me to help that guy?" After delivering its message to him, the Shikigami quickly left his presence, gathering five other boars, three being the ones that Ragnarok was hunting, as well as one level 1 and one level 4. "My first fight is going to be with a group of five apparently...Excellent..." Ragnarok quietly chuckled to himself as he lightened the grip on his blade, knowing that he'd better give half a minute thought on what was happening.

    Ragnarok quickly reviewed his situation, as to not make any trouble acting or feeling surprised when he began the fight. "Okay...The first person I noticed after I veiled myself from notice of these boars was that Fox Tail, Druid. Her name's Valanthe Nailo...Vala for short...I don't know her skills, but if she can, she'll be able to heal one of us. That player in the bush...Is he that Sorcerer? I noticed one from before, watching from afar, ready to go into the kill for himself, but he retreated, as if he noticed that a certain someone was going to go in for the kill..." Ragnarok laughed in his thoughts, "I know players, they wouldn't give up a kill like this, so that Sorcerer has got to be him. With his choice of class, he'll be able to give me magical support as I engage. The next person who joined us was that Assassin...His name is..." Ragnarok squinted his eyes, getting a better look at the Assassin to see his info box to appear, "Kumori. A Japanese name. It might mean that he actually likes to role-play, otherwise he'd have gone with some dumb generic name, or simply, that's his real name. That's always a thing. Well, nonetheless, he'll just stand there, waiting for us to kill those boars around him, or kill them himself. Who knows what's going on in that arrogant man's head? Now, the last of this little squadron is the master of that Shikigami who's probably watching from a safe location." Ragnarok quickly scoped out the situation once more, finally being able to locate the elusive player who appeared as a speck to him, laying against a tree in the far distance with a barrier self-cast around him, "His name is..." Ragnarok struggled with his sight, trying to get his profile box to appear, but to his disappointment, it never did. "Damn, I'm too far away, but...His clothing seems to resemble that of a Shaman, as well as that staff. This means he'll be able to provide support to us three if we get into any trouble. And if this is all, then we have a total of five players here: a Druid, a Sorcerer, two Assassins, and a Shaman, all working together...Kind of..." Ragnarok relaxed his breathing after all his thoughts flowed out. "It's time. Let's do this."

    Ragnarok focused his eyes on the level 2 boar that was following the Shikigami, leaping from his shroud, and dashing at the boar with some kind of power. His speed had increased from what he could usually run in this body, as he ended up closer to the boar than he expected in his estimated time. "Fall." Ragnarok drew his katana from its sheath in a swift, smooth motion, slicing upwards at the boar with his first strike, bringing it back down for a second slash as he ended up on the other side of the passing boars. His katana cut straight through the boar as he watched it fall before his eyes. Ragnarok successfully used Quick Draw. "So, that's the feeling of using a skill?" He chuckled underneath his breath as he looked at his right hand where the katana was held, "That felt exhilarating." However, there was no time for self-praise as he still needed to aid the tanking Shikigami against the four boars. He readied his katana upwards at the side of his head, facing the blade down at the ground, to recuperate himself for his next course of action. "Okay. So far, so good. I'm the first one that's done any kind of damage, so that will get things kicking amongst us." Ragnarok ran towards the Shikigami to join in the fight with his katana pointing out towards the front now. With a slight glance, Ragnarok could see the other five boars which Kumori had held down. Ragnarok's mind was on two things: wondering how much Kumori was going to judge his skills as they were the same class, and how the group would continue from here. "Time for all of our skills to be shown. Let's go."

WC: 1074

[Valanthe Nailo]

Apparently everyone seemed to have the same mind to go in this area, as more and more people showed up or popped out of the grass. The boars were gone and went to aggro on something else, along with a snide comment from someone else to attack some other boars. The druid just frowned before giving a soft swear under her breath at how things had turned out. It was probably her better luck that someone showed up to help with fighting but now all this? Vala just shook her head before she placed her hands on her hips, giving a little snort when she glanced over to Kumori. "Oi you.... Kumori! If your gonna be nice and wrangle up boars for us weaker ones either be nice about it or don't talk. If not you don't have to bother seriously, I'd rather bite my own tongue then feel like I should be privilege for an oh so great whatever you are helping me out."

The fox tail almost turned around to walk off right then and there, the hunting grounds were too crowded it seemed but something was off. Apparently more boars showed up, and someone who had popped out of the grass had decided to go for it. A little frown as she brought her interface up and glanced over at all the levels... The boars far outweighed some of them and if she was the only healer of sorts here. Vala growled under her breath again before she shook her head, guess she was back into the healing roll again since it would be chaos otherwise with her whips into the fray. A glance over to Kumori told her he was fine at the moment, same with the shikigami of sorts or whatever that thing was. That one though, Ragnarok, he seemed to be as low level as her or close to it. Carefully she pressed the button for Heartbeat Healing as she targeted him, the green sparkling lights moving over to him for health regen over time before she just kind of sat back to watch.,

"Don't think I am doing this just because of the boars, if I as a healer walked out and let some people die people would think less of my skills."

Word Count: 378
OOC: Heartbeat Healing used on Ragnarok

[Darko Lipowitz]

As the boy watched the scene unfold before his very eyes, he then spotted something odd from a distance. There was a person who attracted a number of boars as they charged towards the man, but it seemed the man did not care about the attack of the boars. That, to him, seemed that he was bragging about his capacity to withstand damage. Just who do he think he really was, that he displayed this self-confident to other people who was apparently lower-leveled than they were? Was he thinking that he would gain respect because of that? In the boy's eyes, it did not gain respect but only proved that that man was a bragging idiot. He had an urge to fire a magical bolt towards that person's arse, but he resisted it, thinking that it was not worth it to use his precious mana to shoot a worthless person down.

The boy's disrespect towards that person only heightened when he said about them killing off the boars attacking him before he kill them off. What, did he thought of them three as incapable of an attack on a moving creature, and he was not even attacking or guarding against them? Did he distrusted their fighting capability? That they are too worthless with their attacks so he volunteered to be a living dummy to make their hunting easier? They would never learn from that display, and it would just make them too lazy to train to their potentials. It might have been better if he just killed off the boars, at least they had learned from his movements. But this thing that he had said and done proved that he was only an over-confident, overbearing, and selfish idiot who aspires to be a hero. As if it mattered to him.

He only just fired a Serpent Bolt towards the lower-leveled assassin so that he could finish the boars with ease, and then walked away. But it seemed that after that spell cast that some slimes noticed his position, and moved towards him, and, as he counted them, there were 5 of them, two of level 1, two of level 2, and one level 3. No problem for him, as he could only blow through them with ease with the power he had right now. With a stride backward, he opened the grimoire in his right hand while aiming his wand towards the slime with the least level. An amount of mana flowed towards the wand, and then a magic missile flew from the wand towards the slime, which hit it on its center. Another stride backward, and another magic missile was fired, hitting the ground on which some slimes were, eliminating one slime, and partially injuring 3 others. He then stood his ground, as he fired another bolt towards another slime, disintegrating it. He smiled as he dodged another attack from another slime, while pointing towards it with his wand, blowing it to smithereens. This was the real battle in which he would gain practical experience, unlike that which was given by that idiot of a high-leveled assassin.

[Kumori]

Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%

"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."

Ryuu’s eyes opened wide open when a familiar voice spoke to him. He turned around to face him with a face of horror. “Sh-shepard,” he said, stumbling upon the words. He tried not to look so horrified by who was behind him, but unfortunately for him, this spelled his doom. “Please, please don’t tell them,” he pleaded Shepard. He was about to run, but that would take away the good training from the younger players. It seemed that Shepard was bringing along his shikigami to gather more boars to the area for the lower-level players. Finally, what he wanted to happen was beginning. The fox-tail druid began calling out to him telling him to be graceful when he was helping the players. He smirked and shook his head, “Hey now… I’m not trying to be arrogant… It just gets annoying when you feel 5 things attacking you… you know? It feels like a bunch of thorns in your side being stabbed simultaneously into it,” he explained, trying to tell her he didn’t do this out of arrogance but out of annoyance for the attacks.

The human assassin approached first, using the Quick Draw skill. He could notice it from a mile away. The fast approach, the normal attack used successively to the gap closer. From his approach, it seemed that he was still new to using the reality system that he had to get used to during his own first battle. A neophyte, that’s what he was. It didn’t bother him, but with what he did, it was noticeable he knew how to carry and use a katana.

The bolts of magic were fired soon after, towards a boar that was close to him, the one targeted by the human assassin. The boar exploded into crystals and Ryuu looked over at the originator of the magic. A sorcerer, eh? he thought. He turned his attention away to a group of slimes, but it didn’t matter to Ryuu. He clicked through the menus and then readied the teacher system status. He jumped away and made room for him to allow him to use the teacher system without dying instantly. After jumping a few meters away from his position, he set his level to 1 and his only skill to be Deadly Dance. The boars were still targeting him, due to his drawing Hate earlier, but that did not bother the assassin whatsoever. He looked at Shepard and smiled. “Change to level 1, using the Teacher System… we should teach them what teamwork looks like,” he said to him. With that he dashed towards the sorcerer in order to consolidate the battles together. It was better to keep them all together and then teach them this way. “Sorry about earlier, I was running away from my guild member… who caught up to me… And the boars were annoying,” he said to them. “I'll teach you the important points of party fighting," he said adding every single one of them to a party he just formed.

“Valan…the?,” he said struggling to pronounce it, “Your job is to monitor everyone’s position, and notify us of any flanks around…” he said to her. “Darko… stay in the center, I’ll protect you along with Ragnarok,” he said to him, “take out what you can, and we’ll keep the slimes and boars away from you while you cool down…,” he then nodded at Shepard, “You know what to do… tank with your shikigami,” he said. With that he pushed off his feet and attacked the nearest boar, using deadly dance and following up with two successive normal attacks.

OOC NOTES: 601 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Shepard Dagon]

Expected Reactions, Unexpected Requests.    

Shepard laughed when he saw Kumori's reaction, he wasn't going to tell anybody, but the opportunity was there and there's no way he would miss such a chance. 
His wolf senses allowed him to heard what the newcomers were saying even from that distance and his pathfinder eyes let him saw their faces all the time; Shepard knew something like that would happen, sometimes Kumori's lack of touch when he is trying to help or being nice are considered like a show off or some kind of mock, like what happened when the shaman first met the assassin, which leaded to a bad result.

The difference was that the new assassin did what he was supposed to, and when the druid spoke her mind, Kumori realized his fault and activated the teacher system... too bad it was kind of late, the wolf could see some unpleasantness in the eyes of the sorcerer, even when he said nothing.

Listening to the suggestion of his partner, Shepard took a look in his menus while sat under the tree, it took him a little while to find the option but he activated it as soon as he found it. It was a bit disgusting for the shaman to show up, but in that low level he couldn't just stand the constant mana consumption that keeping the barrier charged meant.

Shepard rose and charged a very unstable energy orb at the top of his staff.

-Shepard-
Teamwork you say?

He would be lying if he denied the fact that they did trained some combinations of skills and possible attacks...


He threw the energy ball at the ground where one of the boars were standing, then hit his staff to the ground for a command to his Shikigami and began making another energy orb with a rather dense condensation of mana inside, when the first orb impacted the ground under the boar caused it to blow over the air, then the Shikigami nimbly grabbed another boar by its tusks and threw it to the air, making it stand in the air near the other one, before they started to fall, Shepard tossed the dense orb and hit both boars, making them be fired because of the strong pushing force towards Kumori, who successfully landed a knife piercing both boars and making them disappear, it was all trained and practiced, that's what made it look easy, but its execution was hard for the wolf, since it required a high control over the frequency of the energy in the creation process of the orbs.

Shepard walked over the bushes and got closer, the barrier that shielded the Shikigami faded what it wasn't supposed to be a problem, and only 2 boars were attacking it. 

-Thought-
I have to practice that more, it gives me headaches...

Shepard commanded his Shikigami to start hitting the nearest boar, while he was going to help his guild mate, who didn't had any assistance until this moment. With the cooldown of the Damage Interception almost finished, Shepard positioned near him, looking that his mana pool was at 75%, his Shikigami had two and half minutes left... it was ok.

The barrier was soon enabled again to be casted, and so he did, the barrier covered the assassin, he would not have to deal with the damage at least for some time, and if the barrier went down of its 50% of capacity Shepard would recharge it.

All he could do for the moment was to heal his Shikigami with his Prayer of Recovery. The bells sounded around the summoned creature and his life bar was refilled, at least a bit, then again Shepard looked at his mana pool, which was at 67%.

Tags:Ragnarok Kumori Valanthe Nailo Darko Lipowitz
Word Count : 624

[Ragnarok]

A team of five. Two experienced, and three new. The battle begins.

    Ragnarok had only about ten seconds of thought before he engaged one of the boars, attacking the Shikigami. He observed the movements from the rest of the party that Kumori had made, noticing his words when he first stated them, “Sorry about earlier, I was running away from my guild member… who caught up to me… And the boars were annoying." Ragnarok's notions toward Kumori felt mixed. He was a jerk when he first presented himself, but now he was trying to be this kind mentor. It just didn't fit right with him, but right now he couldn't focus his thoughts onto just the one. He needed to expand his psyche, fitting the situation he was in to be able to react.

    "Okay. My suspicions were correct. The player who summoned the Shikigami was a Shaman. His name's Shepard Dagon, and he's a Wolf Hair. Apparently Kumori and Shepard are in a guild together, Explains the situation we're in. Vala's started to heal me in case I get into any danger, but she'll adjust towards the Shikigami or Kumori. My suspicions were right on that Sorcerer as well. Level 1 and his name's Darko Lipowitz. He used a simple spell that targeted me which caused the lightning formation to shock towards the nearest boar, ending its life. That leaves 5 with the elimination of one from me, one from Darko, and 3 from the combination of Kumori and Shepard; however, we have an addition of 2 slimes after that small incident. Won't be a problem, but more might appear. Vala will keep us healthy while we eliminate this threat."

    After his lengthy contemplation on the situation, Ragnarok had come in a few meters short of the boar charging at the Shikigami. He didn't plan on relying on Quick Draw anymore, as at this point, it was plain useless unless he would sheath and start the process all over again; nonetheless, Ragnarok motioned his body forward, striking the boar from behind with a horizontal cut to its tail towards the right, bringing his sword back through a spinning session, performing a small jump into the air, and slamming his katana back down onto the boar, creating a deep slash in the boar's back as its attention was immediately drawn towards Ragnarok. It retaliated without any hesitation, hitting Ragnarok in his chest with a quick headbutt, causing his life to fall to a unsettling 85%. Ragnarok threw his sword out with a quick sidestep, ending the belligerent boar's life as he jumped back, placing his sword in front of him, just like before.

"Tch...That hurt. This isn't a game at all. It's our new reality."

    Ragnarok exhaled calmly as he charged forward at the last boar with the Shikigami, even if he was told against to. “Darko… stay in the center, I’ll protect you along with Ragnarok." His words kept flowing through his head, but he'd focus on Darko's protection after their tank was freed. This would provide them with some free time for however long the Shikigami had. Ragnarok hoped in his mind that the Shikigami wouldn't fade after they finished this boar. Under his breath, Ragnarok muttered to himself, half-hoping that Kumori might hear.

"I'm sorry..."

    Ragnarok decided to sheathe his blade, while he placed his hand on the sheath's side of the tsuba. He looked at the boar which had ignored its ally's death while relentlessly engaging the Shikigami. In an instant, Ragnarok watched this boar, and suddenly, with a burst of energy, he took off like a bullet. Quick Draw's process had begun with Ragnarok's eyes set on ending this young boar's life, all for the sake of teamwork.

    "Even if you're just a spirit, you know the basics of teamwork. Come on."

    Ragnarok watched as the Shikigami started to fight back against the boar, beginning its advances. Ragnarok only needed to support the attacks made by the Shikigami, being able to end the single boar's life if the Shikigami could make one stunning blow to it. As Ragnarok entered in only a few meters from the Shikigami, it was able to grab the boar by its tusks, sending it flying a few feet away with a destructive punch. This was Ragnarok's chance. He reacted quickly to the situation, and jumped from his position with the immense momentum from Quick Draw to the point of where the boar would be able to recover its ground. The consistent usage of the skill brought him down to an even 75% Mana pool, but his Mana didn't matter, as this was the only thing he had to use. Ragnarok drew his sword, flowing from one motion to his next as he dropped down with the blade's killer edge, slicing the boar with the immense impact as it dematerialized. Ragnarok's landing was spot-on, feeling proud of what he was able to do with this body. He gripped his left hand as he looked over to Shepard, giving a calm smile as he rushed off towards Darko's direction.

    "Thanks...I really appreciate it...Now, here I come Darko!"

WC: 857

[Valanthe Nailo]

The druid couldn't help but give a little sigh, she merely rolled her eyes as Kumori gave his explanation at being rather annoyed at the attacks and everything. She couldn't really fault him for that, she would be snappy and she was naturally snarky anyways. The fox tail just merely gave a shrug before she glanced around at all the different people. There was a Shaman, two assassins, an a sorcerer... Along with multiple boars and slime closing in around them, causing her to grimace and frown a little bit. In the back of her mind she kind of wished she was Tyreel still even with the opposite gender. Quickly she shook herself out of her thoughts, it wasn't the time nor the place to start daydreaming... in the middle of the fight of all places.

Vala turned her attention towards the spirit that apparently was trying to draw all the attacks in, giving a little frown before she pressed the icon in the air next to her. The green light of heartbeat healing moved over to encompass the spirit of the Shaman's before she turned her attention towards the other three. "Oi, yeah get together, let the spirit aggro or something so I don't have to heal as many people. I only have heartbeat healing and I can't spam it you know! There isn't one healer or spell for each of you, so keep an eye out." Giving a rough sigh though, Vala just shook her head before she lashed out with one of her whips towards one of the boars. It wasn't that tough of an attack nor would it really make them glance her way, but hopefully it would distract it somewhat long enough.

Word Count: 286
OOC: Used Heartbeat Healing on Shaman's Spirit

[Darko Lipowitz]

((Darko's technically a Level 6 for this one; the first claim's already approved 2/2 when I posted here in this thread))

"Tch." As the idiot-assassin moved towards him and apologized about his behaviour, Darko would just click his tongue in disgust as he finish off another slime with a magic missile. It seemed that it was impossible for him to change his perception of the assassin for now. The first impression that this assassin had on him was that he was a proud idiot who ambitions too much to be a hero, and Darko did not like that kind of attitude. For him the true hero is a person humble enough to just work at the sidelines doing his job while others would lead the charge, but would take the helm if no other people could. The hero for him is a person who would just be content while others would take credit for his accomplishments. True, Darko was not the hero material he himself conceptualized - he was a lad who had a foul mouth and always refused to mingle with others - but he wished that other people would have his definitions of a true hero. But this idiot now near him was not this kind of person; he was the reverse of what Darko wanted, and the first impression the young sorcerer had on him was very negative.

He then said to the assassin; his thoughts reflecting on his calm yet blunt and scathing words: "The first response of a human in times of danger reflects the true feelings and attitudes of that human. So don't give me that lame of an excuse, idiot." He then moved towards the other assassin (Ragnarok), whose body was still surrounded with forks of blue-purple lightning, which was the effect of the Serpent Bolt that he cast on him, while finishing off the final slime which surrounded him. He then took note of the shikigami that the wolf-hair shaman was controlling around. It seemed that he did a good job in controlling that shikigami of his to attract a number of boars towards them. He should give him an accolade on doing his job, but there were too many to be slain here, and so they must act quickly. Moreover he was not the type of person who praises others' ability quickly.

He then said to Ragnarok, his voice close to a whisper, "I'll suggest that you move closer to the mobs, but don't move too near them. You could let the spirit take the hits. The spell that I cast on you would make flashes of lightning to strike your opponents once every 3 seconds, stunning them momentarily for you to make the kill. So move faster before the effect wears off. I'll take your rear, don't worry." He would not know if the assassin would heed his words, but he would just stand at his rear, and would protect him from incoming mobs should they attack the assassin, firing his bolts of magic towards the mobs which were not stunned by the electric field that he used on Ragnarok. If their tactic would be successful, the mobs would fall down without depleting Ragnarok's HP. He did not care otherwise if Ragnarok would heed the suggestion of that idiot. He would just do his job.

[Kumori]

	Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%	"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."
Equipment: - Cuirass of Shadows -Windsor Antiqua Dagger -Windsor Antiqua Dagger	Skills:	Alternate: -Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

It seemed the group was working cohesively, even if one of the members was being a sore loser. Ryuu couldn’t help but shake his head at Darko’s foolish statement. In times of danger? He was a level 36 Assassin running through a group of low level boars, Darko seemed to assume that this was danger for the Assassin, who could have easily shrugged it off. And if he meant his guild member chasing after him, well, that wasn’t a real danger. It was more of trying to avoid trouble when it wasn’t necessary, especially if it ended up with him back in the Guild Leader room doing more and more paper work. “You may want to make sure I was in any real danger,” he replied back, just as blunt as his comment was. “before you make yourself look like an idiot, idiot…” He could have cancelled his teacher system and simply sliced the throat of the sorcerer who was starting to get on his nerves. He didn’t do it, but it was definitely possible to do so. Darko knew no such things as Field Bosses and Dungeon Runs. He had no real experience to be thinking that this ‘danger’ was what brought out his true nature. Besides, even heroes get annoyed. Those comics, those mangas, and those animes, they don’t tell you how hard it is to be a true hero. Sacrifice wasn’t easy to give, and even if it was done, it often came with a price. Heroes, while they are idolized, often times are perpetrators themselves. They fall, and they act uncharacteristic to how they normally would, but that doesn’t make them any less heroic, it just made them more human. Everyone had a weak spot, everyone had a falling out. Everyone had to face the darkness. It just depended on how you faced that darkness; that is what made you a hero. Kumori was straight-forward. If you annoyed him, you’d know. If he liked you, you’d know. He didn’t beat around the bush to tell you otherwise.

Darko’s perception of a hero was so childish, but it made sense. He was young, even unbeknownst to Ryuu about what he thought a hero was, he could tell that he did not like him for the way he acted.

He never asked for anything in return for his ‘services.’ He had no need to help anyone. He could leave them here and let them train on their own. He also wasn’t trying to be self-righteous, however it didn’t matter. He was already in on this game, and if he was here, he would commit all the way. The sorcerer thought he was better than Ryuu. What was sad was that Darko was acting the same way, but he didn’t see it. Everyone was always blind to their own actions at first thought, which is why Ryuu didn’t hold it against him; however he would correct him if he made a mistake.

Ragnarok and the Shikigami disposed of the rest of the boars with east. Now that was left were the slimes. Ryuu stayed back, allowing the lower levels to attack. He watched them as they worked. “Valanthe, focus on healing the tanks, but if any of the other members get hit, heal them before it’s too late. Conserve your MP until they’re around 50% health. Everyone else, keep attacking and supporting like you were doing before. Kill the lower levels first, since they’re easier to kill and do enough damage to make a difference and then work your way up. The less units you deal with, the easier the fight is,” he said as he sheathed his weapon and climbed the trees to get a better perspective of the battlefield.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 622 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Shepard Dagon]

Cooling Things Down.

Slimes, what the only thing that needed to be taken care of… or at least that was what everyone wanted, the situation was getting pretty hot way too quickly for Shepard to notice, but in less than a minute he could spot a few verbal assaults between Kumori and Darko, not good at all, better end this quickly enough to avoid any fights.

-Shepard-
Kumori!

He yelled that out to remind Kumori what was going on and how he should react, it was time already to end up this fight and get over the differences, Shepard took his staff and made a few commands to his Shikigami, who changed into a more thin figure to move quickly and surround the slimes, while the shaman managed to get the last boar become data with a quick auto attack; it was time to end the show with some useful information for those newcomers, environment wasn’t just there for no reason, the Shikigami gathered the three slimes tossing them like balls against a tree, when the three were over there the Shikigami duration ended causing in the paper charm to fall to the ground, a bolt of energy inflicted a great damage to that three base and it resulted in the three falling over the slimes, leaving the loot around the site. Shepard just recovered the charm and packed it away while looking at the others and making everyone a signal for gathering around the three.

-Shepard-
No more fighting, all the foes were slain, got it?

He asked hoping that everyone understood, then managed to heal the little wounds of everyone and then taking a seat over the three, he realized then that he would have to talk, even if everyone has already seen his name.

-Shepard-
I’m Shepard, don’t get us wrong, Kumori was only trying to help, sorry for the inconveniences.

Then the wolf remained in silence, hoping everything was alright, then expected that the others said something else, the night was already falling, so the wolf ignited a pile of branches and leaves with a spark of energy from the top of his staff, it should work at least for a while, Shepard wasn’t very good at camps no matter how much he loved the nature and the outdoor spaces, but he had to try at least, the campfire was set, he was hungry and unwilling to talk, so he took one of the boar chop he got from the loot and began to roast it in the fire, the flavor should have to be nice, he wasn’t using the crafting system after all. Everyone stomach growled so Shepard made a signal to imitate him and explained that without crafting system, simple cook should work for everyone and taste good. They would have to guess the rest; harder recipes could only be achieved by proportionally experienced chefs.

A moment passed by and the chop was ready, the wolf waited a moment for the chop to get a bit colder and then took a big bite, it was good, he rarely enjoyed non-cracker tasting food, so he did ate slowly and savored it.

Tags: Kumori Ragnarok Valanthe Nailo Darko Lipowitz
Word Count : 526

[Ragnarok]

So, what are the minds behind this operation of ours?

    Everything happened in an instant. Ragnarok had charged towards Darko, hoping to aid him in his fight against the remaining slimes, but much to his own surprise, the Shikigami had made its move, this time with a new form. The beginner Assassin looked back to see that Shepard had given the command for the Shikigami to move forward, eliminating what remained of the slimes. The other unique sight was Kumori, holding up in the trees, most likely for a tactical view of the situation, albeit, unneeded. The battle continued on, nonetheless, with the group taking the upper hand.

    The humanoid spirit engaged in the final part of the battle, tossing the remains of the slimes at a tree, charging towards them at the last second before it dissipated, only leaving a spirit charm behind. The slimes were still alive, leaving it up to the closest three, Ragnarok, Darko, and Vala to engage; however, unbeknownst to the three, a paper charm was left behind, exploding and eliminating the three slimes with a subsequent effect of knocking the three chargers over, hitting the base of the tree with a large impact. The battle was over, but the realistic pain continued.

    "Geez...I didn't expect my first battle to be like this...Ow...My head..."

    Ragnarok continued to cry out in pain in silence, until he finally noticed that Shepard was sitting next to the fallen newcomers, healing them. "I’m Shepard, don’t get us wrong, Kumori was only trying to help, sorry for the inconveniences." He spoke with a considerate voice, taking in everything that had already gone on with the situation. Soon enough, everyone's senses started coming together, and Ragnarok found himself next to a campfire at night. New to his knowledge though was the ability to cook real food. Shepard had been roasting a piece of the boar meat over the fire, igniting the air with the smell of real meat. Having noticed the commotion amongst the members, the Wolf Hair shared his knowledge of the situation of cooking with the rest, allowing them to start cooking their own piece of meat over the bonfire. Ragnarok's subclass was Chef plus he had experienced knowledge in cooking in the real world back when he was Oswald Lowell, so it wasn't too hard to get started.

    Moments passed by, and soon enough, his own piece of the grub was readily cooked. The smell was excruciatingly ambrosial. With a wooden stick stabbed through the meat of the boar, Ragnarok took a bite out of the cooked food, relishing the taste of real food. It had been quite a while since he had any taste of meat, meat that had taste. This night truly was beneficial to him, but what about the rest of the group? This was a question that Ragnarok pondered for a while, wondering why would two veterans of Elder Tale would help out a few new players such as Ragnarok, Darko, and Vala.

"Hey, um...Shepard? Why did you come and help the three of us back there? From what I could see from the situation, Vala could've handled the healing fairly well, while I could do the DPS on my own. I didn't notice Darko at the time, but he would've surely helped us and the battle would've given us more of a challenge. Instead, you two decided to help us out. Was it just morals that occurred in your thinking or was it something else?"

WC: 582