The second step [ 2/2 closed - Finished]

[Guthbrand]

Guthbrand was waiting, he was eager to get started with monster hunting with his brother Strast as he was called here in Elder Tale, he tried to keep calling him that instead of using their real names simply because he wanted to avoid others finding this information, especially as he had no idea if this would be useful down the road or not in this world. He had learned a good bit from Mab, Klide, Havelock Bast and the others that had accompanied them into that dungeon the other day and was ready and willing to put it to the test helping his brother along the way. He intended to take them for a bit of exploration through the Windsor Great Wood, the same places Mab had taken him and the other, though he did not intend to look for the dungeon with just the two of them, at least not yet anyways. Today would just be a day of exploration, perhaps of hunting down some animals for their ingredients, any loot they might drop, and perhaps to help his brother in taming one of them, though he wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that exactly though he was sure that they could figure it out together.



The tall man was leaned against a tree, his bow leaned against the tree beside him in an easy to grab spot, facing the small clearing that had been designated as their meet up point writing in his journal as he waited, there were things he was thinking of that would be useful to explore later on and he didn't want them to slip his mind when he started to focus on other things. Currently there wasn't much to it, just some notes about the others that he had meet up with, their small adventure and the notes he was putting in them right now. He knew he wanted to record his previous life in the journal as well, encase he couldn't return to the world and some how died in this one. It wasn't something that seemed possible from what he knew, but then again he had been teleported into a game world that he couldn't escape from not to long ago. His hand writing was smooth flowing cursive, something he was thankful for learning to do now that they no longer had fountain pens and had to rely upon things like quills. Guthbrand quickly jotted down a note to look into making fountain pens, something that would be a general improvement in life for him and others and was at least in the real world fairly easy to make.



Guthbrand finished his writing, sprinkled a bit of sand to take up the ink and after a few moments blew the sand away gently so as not to smear the ink across the pages. His brother would be here soon, and they could decide what they were going to do then, though they had to be careful what with his low HP and both of their general lack of real experience in how this world worked on their own away from a higher level player that could help/protect them if it came down to it.



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Word Count: 535
Strast Dandris

[Strast Dandris]

Strast was heading to the meeting location in the forest and as he hurried along the now familiar streets of Elder Tale's Londinium he could not help but recall how when he had first found himself logged in, when he was so scared of being stuck in this the world and of how he had to figure out exactly how to work with the menu's and the new surroundings that appeared to resembled the city in the real world. And yet it was so different that it caused him to be constantly panicked and afraid of everything new he found in this new world of his. Eventually he came to understand that he was safe in the town and that even though he could not logout he could still use the games feature, this lead him to begin the process of learning the menu's and their shortcuts so that he could eventually become familiar enough with them to use them confidently. In time those menus became as familiar to him as the strange new city had. Though this process took quite a while and the choices he was presented with on occasion of joining a guild or not were daunting, he decided to eventually stay by himself (and with his brother) for the time being. Now, the time has come, for Strast was familiar and even comfortable with Elder Tales more basic functions (except for the tasteless food he had to endure) he decided that he was finally ready to start exploring his new world that he is forced to live in. The world had changed forever (as far as he could tell) into something that he had always wanted, A new world that had genuine magic in it that he could command. Strast just didn't expect to get it in such a manner, expecting something like the full dive system being worked on in Japan.



Strast wore a wide grin on his face as he hurriedly moved around people on the outskirts of town, he was on his way to meet his brother “Finally!” He thought to himself as he continued on his way listening to the clinking and hiss as the chainmail he worse slide about on his body. This was going to be a good start to their adventures. Strast made his way out of the Londinnium zone and into the Windsor Great Woods he used his summoning skill to bring forth his skeletal minion. As the minion pulled it’s self slowly from the ether where they dwelled, Strast could not help but think that the skeleton needed more work on his part. For one skeleton was such a mundane name, and after a moment’s thought he came up with a new name to call it by. He christened the minion with the new name Deadite after one of his favorite cult horror movies from the real world. “The real world…” Strast thought to himself as he bade Deadite to follow him as he moved quickly towards the meeting point. Strast could not believe that such thinking did not seem to be real to him after the time he had spent in this world. This world felt like the real world already, the fact of the matter was this world was his home now, and thinking that he really belonged in the real worlds England rather than here gave him pause. This was quickly swept away as his excitement of the day came surging back. Strast could finally see the clearing and after a moment of looking he saw Guthbrand who was leaning against a tree seemingly resting and at easy with his bow leaning within easy grasping distance if he had felt the need arise for it.



“Heya bro! You ready to get your explore on?” Strast’s soft tenor called across the field with a giant grin on his face. He and his loyal follower (did it really have any choice?) Deadite moved into the clearing making a plethora of noises between the clinking and soft swishing of his chainmail and the rattling of the Deadite’s bones as they came to a stop near Guthbrand.


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Word Count : 689

[Guthbrand]

As his brother's soft voice came to his attention he looked up to see that his brother had just crossed into the clearing and called out to him, Guthbrand quickly snatched up his bow, he then set about doing a permission checkup on all of his equipment (what little there was) and before he nodded and spoke in his typical his gruff baritone, “Yes I am Strast, I see you’ve given your minion a name. That’s good, means your adjusting well.” "Perhaps a little to well if I'm honest." he added to himself. They would be heading into the forest proper here soon, where monster and animals spawned, where they would be attacked on site and out of the reach of most other players help and at mercy of the game world, or at least that is how it would seem to him if he hadn't spent that time with Mab and the others. He would have to remember to thank her later on, it really had proved him with a great deal of help and pushed him forward.

Waving for his brother to follow him Devlin set out heading northwest, "Let's see what we can find, you looking to just do some fighting or are you wanting to try your hand at taming? Personally I'd rather do some fighting and what have you myself bro."   Guthbrand didn't wait for an answer as he continued slinking along his body lower, providing a steady smooth gait, scanning the woods around them, eyes switching back and forth, left hand holding his bow at the low ready, right hand holding an arrow nocked ready to be drawn tight and loosed, his tense muscles were at the ready in case there was some surprise attack either from a mob they didn't see or by an evil player. He still couldn't understand where the player killers where coming from when they attacked and killed other players, this was no longer just a game. This was their world, at least until they could find their way back to the real world. He was still angry that this had happened, though he had been able to suppress the anger, it still smoldered deep within him, ready to spring forth at a moments notice. 

He spotted a boar, level 2, off in the distance and angled his path so that it would take them towards it, it looked like this would be their first prey, though he wouldn't take it lightly simply because it was low-level, even here in the beginning parts of the woods with the beginning monsters it was important to not take things lightly. As the neared the boar he gripped the arrow with his left hand to hold in place and raised his arm out to shoulder level, forearm pointed up with his hand held in a fist to quietly tell Strast to stop and be quiet, "Enemy, Boar, Level 2, I want Deadite to tank, I'll support with the bow and if things start looking bad I'll jump in and use my fists to help take him down."

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Word Count: 515

[Strast Dandris]

Strast simply nodded his head in agreement to Guthrband's comment and followed just a little behind with his skeleton taking up rear guard. Strast kept glancing at his health bar knowing that he was a frail player in the game not just because of his low level but also because of his incredibly low hit points. This was not something Strast was used to as he usually played a bulky tank class with hit points out the whazoo. Strast kept his distance from Guthbrand as they walked through the woods as his brothers hit points made him more able to withstand punishment. Deadite made quite a bit of noise with his rusty armor clanking against his brittle bones making it sound like their were more than just the three of them. Which was another reason that Deadite brought up the rear.



Strast was astonished at this worlds realism, the woods looked so vibrant and beautiful to him and although they were in danger he could not help but smile as they made their way into the woods looking for their first prey. Strast was familiar with Guthbrand’s hand signals as they had spent quite a bit of time together in other games making up their own subtle hand language so that they could communicate quietly. This allowed them to keep up a good bit of stealth even if they were not necessarily stealthy in nature.

As Guthbrand explained what he wanted Strast eyes began to shine with a hungry look in his eyes as he saw the Boar in front of him. Strast nodded at his brothers plan and began to move himself into a better position so that he could keep a clear view of the animal and surroundings. As soon as Strast fell into position he signaled for a count of four for Guthbrand to wait while Deadite grabbed the agro as best as he could.

Than with a nonverbal que and a nod to Guthbrand Strast commanded Deadite to engage the boar. The boars head came up as Deadite ran at it making a weird clacking noise with his bony mouth along with an incredible cacophony of noise as he ran headlong at the boar and hit him first with his shield and than followed up with a swing of his rusty sword.


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Word Count : 386

[Guthbrand]

Guthbrand was tenser than he had been previously, his muscles nearly strumming from how tightly he held on to the arrow and bow in his hands. While Strast set himself up Guthbrand scanned the area to make sure this was the only mob one more time before he moved off and around to the right so that he could start flanking it, he made sure to toggle his skill for the extra damage as he moved into a place that would allow him to have a clearer shot on the boar, he didn't want to hit Deadite, nor did he want to have to worry about not being able to see his brother behind him. When he found a spot he watched the skeleton charge forth towards the boar, while it might not be the best of tanks Deadite would do for this, at least Guthbrand hoped he would be able to deal with this single mob, specially as he was from this world and didn't have the misgivings that many of the players shared alongside Guthbrand, while they where starting out, though many had gotten used to it or otherwise dealt with it long before him and his brother (as one could tell by them just now starting their journey). 

Guthbrand watched as the skeleton swung it's sword, counting silently in his had down from four after the first attack, the skeleton was loud even while it stood shield ready swinging when it could at the boar, he would have to keep that in mind as they continued, it was loud as could be and would give their position away.. Though he felt that it would possibly draw more agro than it otherwise would due to the noise it made with it's movement. He brought the bow up and leveled it out, pulled the string back smoothly in one motion and took aim at the boar, he held it for a moment, holding his own breath before he let the arrow fly at the boar, he didn't wait to see if the arrow hit before he drew a second and notched it letting it loose as quickly as he could steady his aim. This time he watched as the arrow joined it's brother he had just loosed near the back of the boar, it wasn't to different from firing a bow in real life and he had more than a little practice with that. Deadite was doing work, and was keeping the agro, so it wouldn't be long before it went down between the two of them attacking it. He took a moment to glance at Strast to see what he was doing, wondering if he was just standing back letting his summon do all of the work (not that there was anything wrong with that, especially with the low Hit Points a summoner had). Guthbrand preferred to be quite during fights, there was no need to scream, and he knew how unnerving it was to face a adversary who rather than getting heated stayed silent and cold, avoiding being/appearing heated in any way. Of course he wasn't sure that this had any real effect on mobs, but at least if another player was looking to jump them and they weren't so far above in level for it to not matter than it might give them pause. 


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Word Count: 558

[Strast Dandris]

As Guthbrand and Deadite began their work on the boar Strast kept a close eye on his summon's and Guthbrand’s hit points to make sure that they stayed healthy. Seeing Guthbrand looking in his direction Strast gave a lop sided smile and continued looking around to make sure no other mob's or players happened to come towards the loud racket that the battle was making. For their was one thing that no one would be able to miss, Deadites horrible racket. Bones grinding and rattling, rusty armor screeching loudly, the clang of the boar beating against deadites shield and the loud thwack as Deadite attempted to cut the boar, though with his rusty sword all he managed to do is bludgeon it.



Seeing no new enemies approaching Strast again looked back to the fight to see Deadite bludgeoning away with abandon unaware and uncaring of any damage it received or dealt. Strast could not help but chuckle. This is why a dead body is so scary. They do not feel. No fear, No pain, No remorse, Nothing. This is also what drew Strast to this particular summon. The ability to be a necromancer or the worlds equivalent. Their is potential for Deadite as well in the fact that he can equip and keep equipment that he is given making it possible to eventually get the horrible noise to go away. Thought they did have a charm all their own Strast mused silently to himself as his gaze swept the nearby landscape.



With another loud bang and than the sudden quiet let Strast know that the battle was over. With a final look at the nearby woods Strast made his way over to clap Deadite on the shoulder and nod at his brother in triumph. "Our first victory brother!"


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Word Count : 298

[Guthbrand]

Guthbrand on seeing that Strast was fine and keeping an eye on the surrounding area for adds or players turned his attention fully back to the fight, it was going well for them, of course it was essentially three on one, but that was besides the point. He brought another arrow from the quiver at his side and drew once more, as he lined up the boar in his sights for one last shot (he loved being able to see the HP of animals, and he loved the 20% damage boost he got from his Hunter subclass) on the large Boar. He breathed in deeply before blowing it out slowly and loosed the arrow when all the air had evacuated his lungs. It spun from the bow piercing the air with it's head as it made it's way towards the boar. The twang of the bow and the slap of the string on the inside of his padded wrist was all that he felt as the arrow sunk deeply into the side of the boar and Deadite struck one last time, causing it to disperse into a cloud of multi-hued bubbles leaving behind nothing more than a bit of meat that he and his brother would wind up selling back in town for a bit of gold.



Guthbrand nodded in return to his brothers triumphant announcement, "The first of many, you know how long leveling and adventuring in MMO's take, let us not get ahead of ourselves." He moved to the meat and slid it into his bag, he would be taking it back to town with him and split the profits of it with his brother afterwards. He sighed as he looked about the area they were in, it was a long road ahead of them, he was sure that regardless of what was needed to bring them back to their world that it would require them to be high level, perhaps even level 100 as it was the new max level of the expansion that they had been sucked into. How long would that normally take? Something like two weeks of normal play with a decent guild he assumed, so they were looking at many months if not years stuck in this world working their way up from the bottom. They would need to continue to hunt for a while at least before the headed back to town, they needed the experience (so they could level) and the loot to help them with their low quality gear. There were players selling gear that they could use back in town, he had seen them in ST. Pancras Station working in the broken down shops, perhaps they could even find their own corner to work on their skills while trading the meat for materials instead of selling it for gold. Who knew what the future would bring? "Let's hunt for a while more yet, we need to gain at least a level today before we head back, the loot and stuff I'll collect and we can deal with it afterwards." Guthbrand's gruff voice called out to his brother as he moved to stand before him.




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Word Count: 525

[Strast Dandris]

Strast looked at the meat and sighed as Guthbrand stored it away. "Wish the food didn't suck so bad! But hey you know what? At least now I can eat perfectly healthy and not care for it all tastes like the same gruel." Strast says with a depreciating chuckle. The world definitely did have some perks over life Strast thought quietly to himself. Strast nodded at Guthbrand and decided that letting him sell the loot for profit would be best as Strast liked to go back to town and find his spot under a tree and sleep the days away. The land holds many wonders and Strast knew that if they were to get very far that they would have to do the same thing as he had done million's of times in many different RPG's. Grind. That one word was something that makes some cringe but here in this world Strast felt that it would make not only the days go by but also allow him to get rich and stronger at the same time. This would also be a good opportunity for him to learn tricks with his skills and how to hunt better with his skeleton. With loot in hand and battle won Strast waited for Deadite's hit points to slowly replenish before he motioned for Guthbrand to follow him as he made his skeleton walk in front this time so that he could pick up aggro first.

Strast turned and began walking with a merry tune on his lips and a smile on his face he looked towards the horizon with no further thought than seeing the next horizon. "Each day we travel on and on and as we do we will become not only stronger but richer. Maybe at one point we will have the opportunity to purchase a house for ourselves instead of sleeping out in the dirt every day or at an inn eh bro?" Strast said as he hummed a tune to himself.  Looking back and forth for the next beastie that they might prey apon. This may not be the best of starts hunting the poor boars and whatever creature that they may find. This might have seemed bad and horribly tedious if this was still a game but seeing as this was his new life it took on a new light. He was an adventurer and as such he would be more than happy to do his job. Killing things and getting paid for it never sounded like such a good thing! A merry tune indeed!

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Word Count 426

[Guthbrand]

Guthbrand nodded in agreement with his brother talking about the food, they couldn't afford to eat the good stuff because of the little money they earned running errands in and about town. Of course this was going to change fairly soon, now that they were leveling and collecting gold was easier it meant that they could get away with ordering the tasty stuff, though he didn't mention that to his brother. They had a lot of hunting to get through. Guthbrand leaned against a nearby tree waiting for Deadite to recover its hit points before they would continue to hunt down more boars, these events would repeat themselves throughout the day as they hunted down boars for their meat and became more skilled and quicker at taking them down, of course the leveling helped as well. When they moved on he took up the rear, following along keep an eye out for any mobs or other players coming from the rear. "Let's worry about houses and other such things in the future, we have more immediate needs than that right now." Of course Guthbrand was referring to their starter gear, something that needed replacing as soon as possible. Devlin shook his head at his brother's levity, though he supposed it was better than be despondent as they had been at first. His brother's humming only made him miss his music more, the fact that there was no power metal, hard style or anything besides lute tunes and the like was rather disappointing, while it was pleasant to listen to compared to the nothing that was his other choice, it only made his longing for what he considered proper music all that more apparent.



They spent the rest of the day hunting, collecting meat and avoid slimes and other monsters that were out of their current small league. They also hid from other players, regardless of them being alone or how they looked, they had no desire to be player killed for what would amount to happenstance and ribaldry. They had nothing of real worth but that was no protection from the likes that would kill them for their items anyways. At the end of the day they had made out well, while it was tiring work hiking about the woods and using their abilities all day long, it was worth it as they had made it back with more gold and loot than they had ever had before, and the levels that they had gained were a nice bonus too!



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Word Count:  420

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