[Event] Londinium Coconia Lunar Festival

[Polack]

Polack
|| how to never celebrate festivals ||

And here he was, the hero of the universe, the salvation of the ... who are we kidding? Polack, all his life known by the name Patryk, was nothing like a hero or a salvation, he was existing, nothing more, nothing less. Before this still unexplained and life changing event of him being stuck inside a game he has found just a moment before being forced to think, that he might have to spend his whole life inside a game, Polack was usually the person to love festivals. Not being much of a fan of huge crowds, he still enjoyed yet another excuse to drink, meet all his friends, drink, do things other people might consider controversial and drink. This was all a little bit more difficult within Elder Tales though. Polack, being one to usually love to talk, having his friends around, cracking jokes, just talk for the sake of talking with them, had to completely change within this game. He simply wasn't used to talk in English, he often feared, that his pronounciantion was wrong, he didn't know a lot of difficult words and he was sure his accent would be quite ununderstandable for others. This forced him to stay quite and eventually he didn't have anyone around anymore. Of course he was kind of lonely, people tend to be, no matter if they want it or not, but it was still a feeling that he has gotten himself quite used with. But even the lone wolf has been attracted by an event so tempting as the Coconia Lunar Festival...

"What am I doing here?" 

Polack mumbled to himself, in polish, silent enough for nobody to hear, which was actually senseless, because he was keeping a big distance to anyone going through the decorated street. The young male had to admit, that he liked the work that has been done on the Londinium Festival Square. The lights were something infatuating and Polack was completely fascinated by all of it, because it was clearly visible how much work all this had to be. His earlier 'What am I doing here' was more because of the motive of the festival. Even if he had someone to talk to here in Elder Tale, all this whole love thing never was much for him. In his live he had many statuses some may consider as releationships, but Polack has abandoned this all a while ago, he stopped believing in something like two people being destinied for each other forever. And why of all events that he could have possible be attending to, he landed in one that was all about love? Polack snickered as he thought about that for a moment, life sure was a joke at times. Standing there silently in a corner, probably nobody would even notice him, as he didn't move an inch, wasn't notable in apperance at all and didn't say a word, he found it absurd how well he has gotten to fit into the role of an Assassin.

Outside of the game he barely could be considered an assassin. He was playing drums and he was also a singer, which is why he often helped out his friends which formed a band if they needed either this or the other. The band he was working with was a punk rock band, which made it pretty clear, that it never really was a silent job. Different aspects of his life weren't really silent aswell, he liked to laugh, his laugh managed to be incredibly loud at times, he wasn't able to sneeze silently, having probably the loudest sneeze anyone has heard and he talked louder and a lot at a certain stage of being drunk. With all that, it was hard to believe he has chosen to be an Assassin. The other choices he made when creating his character were actually pretty handy. Since he was quite a good cook in the outside world, often taking part time jobs in the kitchen of a restaurant, he was certain, that the already gained skills would make it easier for him to be successfull at his chef subclass. But the most important thing was: he has chosen to take the hunter subclass. Sure, he wasn't a hunter himself or anything at all, not counting a squirrel by accident, he has never killed an animal with bow and arrow, but he had an incredible talent with those. Other than MMO's, archery was Polack's favorite hobby. Not only that he seemed to have a born talent to it, he spend years on training, was send to a few contests aswell. Basically he was able to do things people could only dream of.

Polack, even though enjoying his life here in Elder Tale due to all those incredible things that happened here, kind of missed his life outside the game. Back in those days, he knew a lot of people, everyday he somehow could find a party and since he got quite a lot of financial aid for his time during college, he could drink as much as he only wanted. He could actually really drink as much as he wanted, some people even claimed him to be immune against the effects of alcohol, though he still enjoyed this hobby of his a lot. Of course that wasn't true, since Polack really could get drunk at times even beyond drunk and even beyond wasted. People were envious at his phenomenom of never having a hangover. Polack had also the luck, because he had all the time he needed to drink, since he barely had to go to lectures. Some considered him a little genius, since he comprehended things much faster as other ones. But except for talents and intelligence, also his appearance wasn't quite bad, so he also wasn't having trouble with the ladies. Well, that didn't change the fact, that he still hated Valentines day and barely believed in love, which made it quite absurd for Polack to coming to the Coconia Lunar Festival at some point.

Thinking about that Polack started to wonder, what his last festival was, that he attended and pretty quickly and lively remembered: The Woodstock Festival. Without even noticing, a smirk appeard on his face as he thought about it. Except the very fact, that the Woodstock Festival had one of the best compilation of different bands, there were many aspect of this event which made it legendary. Many people actually complain about it being so troublesome, because you sleep in tents for days, it's extraordinarily hot all the time, it's often muddy (muddy actually might be an understatement) and additionally to that it takes ages of waiting till you reach the showers. Polack didn't care about those problems, because there were things that makes all that worth it. Alcohol. You will never experience a bigger gathering of drinking people, mixing everything up, smoking weed afterwards just to proceed with drinking until you fall asleep and that through all the days. It is an amazing place in which you drink and drink and drink without being able to get too wasted to continue drinking, just like a never ending circle of joy. It is one of the little events in which you are allowed to drink outside, since usually the polish law forbids drinking outside pubs, bars or own house (not that Polack would ever care about that anyway). Also the people were extraordinary. Polack has never seen a bigger gathering of the strangest people after being on the Woodstock Festival. People in the most different and eccentric costumes, people with lives that interesting and weird, people with such crazy ideas... Polack remembered that one dude that was standing in front of the toilets with a sign with the writing 'pee on me for free' and below an explantation why pee is very healthy for the skin and he rememebred people that were actually doing that. Polack saw so many drunk people, stoned people, strange people, naked people... oh yes, the naked girls that were running around there at times sometimes sure were amazing... and all kinds of people, it was just worth to go there for the people. It was all even better since he went with a big group of his friends there and during there night there was always a new friend to make and to take in the tent with anyway. Oh yeah, the good time in the tent... but let us maybe not get into details about that one. Many things have happened, but not only in that context of course. He remembered the whole mystery about who pooped in his friends tent, he remembered how they were making helmets out of watermelons, the gathering of all different kinds of alcohol in a bucket, all those crazy things they did there... and now he was suddenly in an event like the Coconia Lunar Festival.

Of course it wasn't a bad thing, Polack wasn't someone to constantly live such a for other people rude and loud life, since he has many friends who dislike that aswell as those who love it, which is why he also enjoys much more calmer events. But all of them had another topic than this one, he never attented to those in which you have to be the loving and caring one for another one, although people often tell him, that he was an altruist, he still believed himself to dislike that. And yet he was here, Coconia Lunar Festival. It was the 14th of February, the day of love like no other. And a day he disliked like no other aswell, since he actually had quite some bad experiences with it.

Even though the people in Elder Tales learned how to make food that actually tasted and even though he experienced quite a few infatuating dishes here, he kind of missed the polish cooking. He hoped that it would be able to maybe cook normally, then he could make some great food for himself here. There were quite a few things actually that he wanted to do on here, if it turned out that they were forced to live in here forever. The most important thing was to get stronger, being able to defend oneself and being able to take care of everything by oneself. After that he badly needed to bring in some polish vodka and dishes in the game, hopefully with the same taste as they had in the outside world. The first thing he wanted to try to make was Pierogi and Bigos, those two would be great to have here. Also noodles with strawberry-cream-sauce would be fine, since it's incredibly tasty. Actually, maybe it would be good first to get himself a house first, he thought after a while though, which is probably more reasonable then making food without a kitchen. On the other side he wasn't even sure how he was going to do that. He needed money he couldn't get easily in order to make people do it for him and he needed skills he doesn't have to make it himself and both of it seemed to be a far off dream recently. All he could do now was fighting, getting stronger and stronger with each fight he was in. Right now his life was nothing like what he wanted to spend it like for the end of his days (considering something like that existed in Elder Tale, he didn't even know if he could age or really die). Polack right now was living in one of the stables on the edge of the city. One of the people of the lands there allowed him to stay without paying, since it was an old stable anyway and there were no horses he could keep in there anymore anyway. His bed was nothing but a bit of stacked hay and an old cover and he was eating the cheapest stuff he could get in order to safe money. All he wanted to spend his money for right now were the necessities and equipment to get stronger, that was all that really counted right now. But he had to admit that it was hard to force himself to be so strict towards himself. He was used to an easy going life with not much effort, not much physical exhaustion and not much sense but having a good time. Sure, he kind of enjoyed the fights he had, but they were of course exhausting. Sometimes he doesn't manage to be as strict towards himself as he wants to be and this are the moments he usually slacks off at. The longer he is in here, the more often those moments show up. He was actually tired of his own stubborn thought to be one of the strongest in order to ... to what actually? He didn't even know why he was so obsessed with that in the first place. Sure, it surely would be quite the cool thing, but why would he need it as badly as he thinks he needs it? Polack simply couldn't understand that within himself, which is another reason why he prefered to stay alone for now. He had more than one dream in which he dreamed of a huge mansion with a lot of beautiful and little dressed maids, a lot of alcohol and a carefree life, knowing to be the strongest of all the strongest. It was strange how much satisfaction such one silly dream could give to a person.

Noticing how much his thoughts have drifted away, he lifted his head up and focused on what was going on here again. Actually nothing changed: he was still sitting there in the corner of an alley, leaned against the wall. The crowd of people was just the same as before, the same goes for the merchants and their goods. It seemed like no specific event was going on right now, but the people themselves were also interesting enough to watch. Polack still was fascinated by the different races that Elder Tale turned the people into. People with tails and animal ears passed him. Some people that he knew that were so called half-alves but couldn't be distinguished in such a crowd right now and those who obviously were elves and dwarves. One could even see what was more popular amongst people. There were way more elves and people with animal features to be seen in the crowds than dwarves for example. It wasn't a surprise for Polack and he actually tried to imagine himself being a dwarf. He smirked by the sight of his mental image, but then he shuddered as he realized how many disadvantages living as a dwarf must have. All those problems reaching anything from the opponent to reaching even a cookie jar on a cupboard. All those problems with running with short legs, being forced to be quite fat additionally. People must regret to have chosen such a race. He decided to continue watching the crowd.

With a little bit concentration, he could even catch up to a few conversations of people passing him by. A word from here and a word from there, but everything was about "Love, love, love, love, love, love, pah!" Polack recited the word over and over again in a quite dumb way, spitting out at last, as he decided that he couldn't stand to listen to all that lovey dovey. Silently moving through the festival square, he took a look at all the goods the merchant had to offer. The food was looking tasty and the other goods were seeming interesting, but that all didn't convince him to buy anything. Polack, since he was here and came back to some common senses after the first shock realized, that, if he wanted to make the time in here livable, he had to get stronger and to get stronger, one needed all the money one could get. So, even though all the food looked tempting, he didn't buy anything.

Just as he was about to leave the square, he was suddenly grabbed by the sleeve. "Please, come and have some fun at our speed dating!" Suddenly grabbed like that, Polack looked at the girl. She was petite, quite cute and her smile was warm and inviting. But Polack wasn't used to that in here, since he didn't have not much contact at all. As he realized what she said, his eyes widened. Speed dating, she was inviting him for speed dating. What was he supposed to do? Polack panicked. Grabbing her hand gently and pushing the hand away in order to get himself free, he shook his head and forced up a smile, let go of her and made the fastest way through the crowd into the next best alley that didn't have people. Heavily breathing, even though he didn't even run or did anything exhausting, he looked at the wall in front of him, then at the festival square. Polack couldn't simply figure out what was supposed to be wrong with him. He never behaved like that earlier, in the outside world he was exactly the opposite. Was Elder Tale changing him that much? Polack decided to flee from any sight for a moment at least. Making his way on the roof within quite a nice time, a time good enough that someone should check if that wouldn't be a new record by any chance, he was sitting there, now completely alone and somehow he managed to relax. He realized, that the decoration of the festival was even more beautiful when watched from above. Somehow it brought a smirk on his face as he watched, the now much smaller, people making their way through the festival. Calm enough now, he came back to his previous thoughts. Was Elder Tale really changing him that much? If that was going on like that he would completely loose his old smooth way of handling people. He simply couldn't allow something like that. Never.

Word Counter: 3000
+50% Bonus: 4500

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

A small inked feather whisked back and forth in the hands of the tired Guild Leader, his eyes blinking several times as he fought back his tiredness. He grimaced and groaned lightly as his head rested on his palm, his neck straining a little as he stared down at the stack of papers in front of him. The windows were closed as was the door to his small office within the Parliament Building, but he could not help but be distracted. Sitting comfortable in the chair across the room, the black silhouette of a friendly “ghost” sat with a happy pumpkin in her lap, her hands cradling the little creature as she hummed and pet it. The pumpkin smiled and its eyes closed happily as it accepted the affection. The little girl’s head slowly danced from left to right, her feet swinging in rhythm with her hums. Saber inhaled deep, and then released a heavy sigh.

“Something the matter, Mister?” After hearing the heavy sigh, the little one looked up from the pumpkin towards the tired player, addressing him in a calm tone. Saber lifted his head from his hand and then slouched back into his chair, the arms of the player dropping lazily onto the arms. Saber let out another rumble and stared forward towards the door. He closed his eyes and put a finger to his lips; the sounds of the festival outside came through the quiet walls. It was faint, but he could hear it. People laughing, shouting, whistling, and clapping, all of the noise associated with such large events could be heard all throughout Londonium, and Saber was holed up in his office doing paperwork. He felt a little bored, and jealous, but he had no real reason to go out today. Kitty was off doing things and he was actually feeling quite tired. If he could, he would have just went to his bed across the hall and taken a nap.

Then again, Saber had a lot of paperwork to do. But, he also wanted to participate in the festival. How, of course, would be something he would have to think up. Maybe some sort of Event or maybe a stall. He wasn’t a salesman by any means, but he could sell some small items from places he had traveled to other players. Though, he doubted his wares would be anything close to “Valentine’s Day”-ish. He wasn’t anywhere close to the type of guy who enjoyed anything Lovey-dovey and he was far too lazy for any of that stuff. He enjoyed his quiet time. Still, he wanted to head out into the festival just to go to it. Maybe he would try to find some way to enjoy it. What could go wrong…?

The man turned his head to the left, rolling his neck slowly until he found himself staring at the childish figure across the room from him. She tilted her head to match the angle Saber’s was at and had a bit of a curious face on. Saber pulled his lips into a tight line and then looked down at the pumpkin in the little one’s lap. His “tamed beast” seemed quite interested in the festival at first and she seemed to be a bit more cheery recently because of it. Yet, Saber restrained her and denied her the ability to go out and see the sights. She didn’t show it, but she was excited for the festival and every time he told her no, he could see the joy escape her face. It wasn’t fair now was it…?

“Would you like to explore the festival?” Saber asked, his question causing the little girl’s face to light up. Her lips pulled into a wide smile and she nodded her head feverishly. Saber let out a sigh and rose up from his chair, cracking his neck and back as he stood up. The Assassin let out a yawn and stretched his hands up towards the ceiling. Once his shoulders and arms were well extended and felt much better, Saber returned his feather-pen to the table and closed the ink container.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Without another word, Saber plucked his cloak off one of the guest chairs in front of his desk and draped the aged, tattered cloth around his shoulders. The little girl hopped out of her chair and moved quickly over to the door, smiling and giggling as she held Blumpy against her chest. Saber opened the door and gently patted the little girl on the head to get her attention.

“No wandering off… Stay within eye sight, got it?” The words out of Saber’s mouth were stern, but the little one understood. She nodded happily and grabbed onto Saber’s hand. The Assassin stared at her, but she squeezed his ring and middle fingers tight, her little hand barely taking up those two fingers. A third sigh fell from Saber’s mouth; he wouldn’t fight it. Instead, he guided the little one out of the Guild Hall and eventually out of the Parliament Building and into the city.

“Let’s have some fun today.” Saber said with a slight smirk as he guided his Ripper Jack out into the busy streets. She nodded in agreement and Blumpy let out an excited trio of squeaks as he nestled into the little girl’s arm.

: Post Title :
-Out for Fun-

: Word Count :
888

: Skills Used :
N/A

: Tagged :
Saber

: Notes :
Current Location: Site A

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Charuen]

"KNOW THAT I'M ALREADY HOME" "Yes, Apocrypha!" Charuen echoed cheerfully upon hearing the young man express his lack of knowledge about the guild. It confused the pinkette slightly as to what a player who was not part of the alliance could be doing here, but it all made sense when the dark-haired adventurer explained that he had been attracted to the smell of Coconia fruit, and proceed to introduce himself as Dresden. Char smiled at the sorcerer (She learned that he was a sorcerer when his player stats popped up on her interface.) with her usual mirth and gave him a small wave with her hand. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Dresden." She replied. "The Coconia fruit does smell nice, doesn't it..." The cleric's voice trailed off as she inhaled the sweet smelling scent. Similar to her previous experience with Coconia tea, the aroma left her feeling warm and giddy -- a sensation that she usually associated with drinking a bit too much champagne. Charuen then turned to face Dresden once more. "Regarding Apocrypha... That is the name of the guild that is allied with Aeryn. Being a member of the latter, I did not recognize you so I thought you were part of Apocrypha. But no matter! I know that we-" The healer was cut off as she felt something, or in this case someone, wrap their arms around her torso and proceed to press against her breasts. Char did a quick jump in surprise, but quickly regained her calm as she noticed the thick black hair that could only belong to a certain wolf hair samurai. She gave @dindeen a quick pat on the head and returned the hug before allowing the petite adventurer to run back to her crepes. By now she had gotten used to Caer's love for boobs and thus, was not surprised by her actions. After the small exchange between the two female adventurers, Charuen found herself speaking with the other adventurer that she had addressed earlier. She watched, clearly impressed, as he cut the Coconia fruit with well-practiced movements that she wished she had. A soft smile graced her features as she looked at the long-haired adventurer. "Well you certainly did turn your skill into a very productive task." She responded, eyeing the diced up fruits once more. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Charuen, and Caerbannog and I are actually members of Aeryn. Apocrypha is the guild that we are allied." The pinkette tilted her head slightly. For some reason, she found the elf's presence strangely soothing. While she had been talking to the two men, Tobin had been busy concocting a brew. Quite typical for the dwarf, as Char had come to know. When the monk finally acknowledged her, a light laugh escaped her lips. "I'm doing fantastic." She said in response to his gretting. "I'm glad to hear that you are doing well so far. It looks like you and Caer are having fun!" While the pink haired adventurer did not know much about the relationship between the dwarf and wolf hair, she was aware that the friendship between Tobin and Caer was very strong. A look of surprise flashed across the pinkette's face as she heard the heavy-accented player greet (affectionately) a certain bespectacled guardian. Turning around, she found herself facing @0x1dea, who greeted everyone with a friendly grin. Charuen returned with her own smile, and felt her heart beat a little faster. However, she soon found her attention being drawn back to Tobin, who had poured a ruby red liquid into small glasses. As he downed the drink, the half-alv did the same with her own. In one graceful movement she threw her head back and allowed the concoction to slide briefly across her tongue before going down her tongue. It tasted sweet and left a warm and tingly feeling in her stomach, but otherwise left no other effects. "That was delicious, Tobin. Beautiful indeed, and an excellent way to transition to crepes..." As the words escaped her lips, a plate was placed in front of her, followed by a steaming crepe wrapped in parchment paper. After noticing Caerbannog bite into her crepe, Char followed suit and bit into her own. A gentle sweetness coated her tongue as flavours of strawberries, peaches, and flora danced across her tastebuds. "Delicious..." She said after swallowing. "The thinness of the crepe is perfect, and the Coconia fruit's slight tartness is rounded out by the sugar. The texture of the crepe and the diced fruit also blends very well." Charuen's voice was quiet, but thoughtful. When it came to desserts, the cleric was big fan. Her knowledge about sweets, especially those that originated from France, was plentiful. As she finished up her crepe, a familiar feeling began to stir in her chest. "I absolutely adore Caerbannog's cooking!" She exclaimed out loud. A goofy smile tugged at her lips after she spoke out. However, this was replaced by a look of remembrance. Char opened up her inventory and took out one of the three boxes of tea she had purchased earlier. She then proceeded to hand it to the female samurai. "For you," she said simply and sweetly. The pinkette wasn't going to be so rude as to eat one of Caer's crepes without bringing a small token of gratitude. "Not as good as the tea you served me at your cottage, but I hope you enjoy it." HP100% | MP100% WORDS 906 | ATTIRE  x x NOTES |Raze

MADE BY VEL OF GS 

[Midori]

[attr="class","polarisB"] [attr="class","girtabB"] [attr="class","gifB"] [attr="class","backgroundsinisterB"] [attr="class","stardustB"] [attr="class","starduskB"] [attr="class","lockedroomB"] [attr="class","psychelockB"] [attr="class","murasakB"] Pay the price of karma and let's go together. It was too much trouble to talk about why or how she got here. Just know that if the topic of Apocrypha, crepes, and other sweet stuff were to be mentioned in several posts in the same thread, the little magician was definitely going to be here. Unfortunately it would seem that the freebie crepes have already been cooked in the Crafting Center, so she'd need to wait for the next batch. Sad face. Wait, she wasn't an Aeryn member. Time to break out her Baginogi to find where she put that wallet. BUT WAIT. Has Skit actually physically crafted his drink? He has not! There's still a chance! So as many people may have realized from Midori's entrance during the winter ball, she has the special talent of being able to blend into a large crowd and appear at her destination as if she was there all along! Because when in doubt, if you needed to get somewhere you're not normally expected to be, act like you were meant to be there! I don't suggest any of you readers try this in real life though. Except maybe Tobin. Because he looked masculine in real life. And not Dwarf. Maybe she should have considered the Tracker subclass instead. Nah, Puppeteer was too much fun. There were hardly any other Puppeteers anywhere on this server, so she felt a little more special compared to the hundreds of Assassin/???/Trackers who were bound to be lurking somewhere on the site (apologies if you are one). Anyway, after wandering the festival streets of Londinium for a little while, she had come across vendors selling something called a Coconia Fruit. It was apparently something that looked and felt like a peach, yet tasted very sweet in comparison. And from the way it was named, did it have some kind of chocolate aftertaste? I don't really know. You decide. In any case, she arrived just in time to hear a familiar pink-haired Cleric speaking to an unfamiliar boy. "U-unfamiliar?" Wait, wait, hang on. Did he not know about Apocrypha? Didn't we occupy Her Majesty's castle herself? Has Hiro not advertised the niche group enough with his 81 Club status? Eh. It didn't really matter to her. Apocrypha was actually made up of Solstice and Asterial Age, though Asterial Age was so mysterious and so inactive (Hello! Kazuko Tsukuyomi Khaleesi) that sometimes it was surprising for her to realize she was a guild leader herself. Okay, now this was a bit awkward to be sitting right here watching everything take place. As the raven-hair sat down upon an unmarked box, she summoned a piece of paper from her inventory and folded it up. Then, activating her Mythic Script skill, she drew the words 'Apocrypha says hi! ↑' along with the arrow and placed it down on the box, the arrow pointing toward herself. So I'm just going to wait a few posts to see if anything makes more sense. Also the writer is going to go study. [attr="class","notesbg"]https%3A//soundcloud.com/joo-hee-oh/nqcrlrnsdng2 NOTES I should have joined this earlier. WORDS 500 (750) TAGS @dindeen @0x1dea Tobin Charuen wait wait wait how many people are here Dresden Raze AREA Site A: Festival ATTIRE CREDIT BY jumpstart! of btn and ote [attr="class","borderradius"] 皐月 冬子

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[Polack]

Polack
|| coming out of the shell ||

"Kurwa, am I really limiting myself to the roof tonight?" Polack said with a rather harsh tone towards himself. It seemed to be true though: Since quite a while now he was simply sitting on the roof, either watching the sky, or watching all those different people doing their own thing on the street. The Londinium Festival Square was crowded with people and Polack had slightly the impression, that it were even more people than it has been earlier, as he kind of fleed from a pretty girl just now. He really had to get a hold of himself, this all started to get out of hand. Why was he so frustrated about that all anyway? Just because his English was bad it didn't mean, that he isn't able to be communicating at all. But one can surely understand, that even though logic often implies us something, it doesn't mean the persona is able to fully adapt to it. As if to check if he would be able to do now, he looked down from the roof at the crowd again, not that it would change anything, since he wasn't even able to talk from here anyway. If he wanted to get back to his way of handling people, he would have to force himself to adapt. "Coconia Lunar Festival, hm?" He knew exactly, that it was nothing more than another word for Valentines day. Taking a look at the different coconia-stuff below, he gave himself the question: How did I usually spend this day?

The earliest Valentines day, that Polack could actually remember was in elementary school. The young, young Patryk was quite the naive and lovable little fellow. He liked a girl from his class. Her name was Marta and she usually was sitting in front of him. Patryk was the helpful type, always aiding her when she needed to, but on the other side quite often getting sandwhiches from her in return. For a young boy stuff like that is real, you know, that real attachement right there, she was giving out her food after all, for him, that had to mean something. So on Valentines day Patryk put on his favorite shirt, somehow managed to stand up earlier, although he usually was always the one to be permanently too late for class, in order to make a present. So, with high enthusiasm and a bright smile all over his face he walks in class, sits down on his place and waits for her to come in. A few minutes later, that in exitement seemed to have taken ages, she finally walked in. "Hey, Marta." he said, as she sat down on her seat. She said hello back to him. After a few seconds of consideration, Patryk took out the present he had for her. He gave her a flower he cut off from mom's collection (later it turned out, that it was one of mom's favorite and very rare kind, which caused him to get in quite some problem as soon as he came back home) and a drawing of his favorite pokemons, surrounded by a heart. "Oh, thanks..." she said simply and turned around to face the blackboard. That was all? 'Oh, thanks'? That was seriously it? Ridiculous, simply ridiculous! Inaceptable! Later that day, he didn't even get a sandwhich from her. What was that supposed to be? A joke? Patryk was shocked. Were all girls like that? For quite a while he ignored all that girl stuff, that was simply stupid.

A few years, well, quite a few years later, there was yet another 'wonderful' Valentines day. He had this one girlfriend called Alexandra for about four months now. She was quite pretty, a bit of a dummy, but on the other side it was quite adorable, at least endurable during those four months. Additionally to that, considering his age of fourteen, he didn't really care about intelligence anyway. On Valentines day Patryk decided to do something nice: he got her flowers, a pretty necklage and some good, good chocolate. They were supposed to meet at her place, but because there was a party planned, she insisted on letting it slip and meet at the party, which was supposed to be quite a good party, since some older friends managed to get some alcohol. Patryk didn't drink yet and because something came up with his parents, he came later. Actually, he walked right into his girlfriend making out with a friend of his. Patryk left immediately, once again neeped over during god damn Valentines day. Later, as Patryk was about to leave the building, his, now ex girlfriend and his ex pall, caught up with him and tried to explain it, which only ended up with Patryk being punched in the face a few times, but he didn't care, Patryk had a face of steel, but what Patryk didn't have until that day, was a heart of steel... until that day, that is.

As Patryk turned fifteen, he started to drink and smoke, which also changed his lifestyle, some of his behaviors and of course the people surrounding him. Despite all that, he somehow managed to get himself into a releationship during january and they stayed together till Valentines day and actually even past that. What made Valentines day bad this time, was the day itself. Waking up quite early, he noticed that the charger for his phone once again didn't work, leaving him with barely 5% of the battery left. In the morning, he somehow managed to let a glass crash down on his foot, leaving his toes awefully bleeding. After a few patch ups and fixing, he, with his foot bandaged, washed himself carefully and left the house. First thing to happen after he closed the door, was him being shit on by a god damn pigeon. With such a nice present on the top of the head, he decided to better go back and wash his hair, as he realized, that he didn't take the keys with him. As he was about to call his parents, which just left for the gorcery store, he found himself being the owner of a phone, that shut itself off as soon as he managed to click 'call'. With the wonderful present still on the top of his head, he had to wait two whole hours for his parents and then endure their laughter. So, after washing his hair once again and taking his keys this time, he left the house. He came late to meet his girlfriend Patricia, but on ther other side, she even managed to get even later there, which he would have known, if his phone would have been charged. After two hours, he finally met with her, gave her the chocolate he had for her (he couldn't be arsed with all that nice Valentines stuff anymore, so it was just chocolate) and they proceeded with all that typical lovey dovey. Since Patricia brough booze, they soon have gotten drunk and after two hours, someone else decided to show up: the police. Running away from them, Patryk somehow managed to loose quite the sum of money, since his vallet fell out as they were making out in the grass. Running through the field away from them, Patryk somehow also managed to fall into a goddamn pit. With his girl caught by the police and him brought to the hospital, this was quite sure a nice Valentines day. For the next few month Patryk had to endure his broke right leg and a lot of trouble from the parents, who got informed about the whole situation of course. After two weeks, he and Patricia got in a fight about the situation at Valentines day and broke up.

When Patryk was eighteen, he had a girlfriend for about seven months and it turned out, that they were together around Valentines day time. Violetta was kind of a sex addict and Patryk didn't mind that actually. There was a lot of rather controversial scenes and it wouldn't be Patryk's life if it wasn't one on Valentines day aswell. It was another party for Valentines day: a lot of things happened in Patryk's bedroom and shower later aswell, since the party was this time at his place and he kind of didn't care what the rest was doing. He didn't even stop doing what he was doing as he heard, that someone managed to smash the glass table in the corner of the living room, which later casued quite the troble as the parents came back two days later. What Patryk didn't know about Violetta was, that her addiction didn't limit her to one guy and well, that one guy also showed up on the party later. Talking with that dude later, they came to the topic of girlfriends. He told Patryk, that he had a sex addicted girlfriend for two years now and that she ... yeah, after about ten minutes it turned out they were talking about the same girl. Patryk kind of lost a girlfriend that he really learned to love and which he planned his future with already, gained a new friend though, since they both finished with all that bullshit, letting her leave crying. The next thing Patryk gained that day, was him ending up with two girls in the bed after the party, so he got that going for him one might say, but for Patryk, Valentines day was kind of a bad thing forever.

During all those retrospections, Polack realized, that he was behaving completely different now. He never had problems to get in contact with people, why was his lack in English being such a problem for him in Elder Tale? He wasn't forced to stay alone, he forced himself without even realizing. Maybe he should just force himself to get in touch with others? Somehow thing should work out after all. Inside Polack there was always have been this struggle of either staying completely alone, which he enjoyed, or being surrounded by people and have fun, which he enjoyed just as much. Since he was here, the second option was closed down by himself and he realized now, how foolish this was. Without even realizing, he stood up now and as his brain kicked in again, he found himself standing on the corner of the roof, watching all the people around there. Maybe he should reconsider his aim to only gain strenght... maybe he could allow himself for a little of fun after all?

Returning to the spot he climbed on, he jumped down inside the dark alley, ignored a guy kneeing down in front of another one (he seriously didn't want to know what they were doing) and forced himself right into the crowd of people. Actually he never thought about it, but, he now asked himself if there was any alcohol in Elder Tale. Quickly Polack decided that it was time for a personal quest: find alcohol and get wasted. Well, maybe getting wasted wasn't possible for his budged, since the polish genes allow superiority towards alcohol, but was that still the fact within the game? Well, it seemed like it was time to finally figure this out. Going from one merchat to the other, he looked if there was something like alcohol. He even managed to force a "Got alcohol?" out of him to some of them, but the answer sadly always was negative.

He soon found himself looking for the alcohol around the Londinium Stage. He even forced himself to ask a few people there, but many of them were clueless. Did people not drink alcohol there or was that simply his bad Valentines day luck? Finally he found himself stopping a man with a mask and having a sentence he formed inside of his head already earlier, he spoke up to him: "Excuse me, know where to find alcohol?" He could hear his own accent being aweful, but he wouldn't give up.

Word Counter: 2000
+50% Bonus: 3000
People in Contact with: Mellow

[Fenrir]

Fenrir spent a good portion of the morning rolling in his bed frustrated that he couldn't fall back asleep. Something was keeping him awake and at first he just could not figure out what it was. That was until he finally took the time to take in a nice deep breath. The smell that reached his nose was almost enough to get him to jump right out of his bed. The smell if great food reached his bedroom and was doing a good job of waking him up. He moved quickly to get out of bed and change into his outfit. He then rushed down stairs and found his boss in the cafe's kitchen working on so interesting dishes. When Fenrir questioned his boss on what was going on, he was quickly reminded that today was the Coconia Lunar Festival and that if he wanted to have enough time to actually to go to the festival he needed to get to work in helping his boss with preparing for the day's hard work before he would be free. Fenrir spent the rest of that morning helping the cafe get ready for the many people that would be coming to eat and relax during the festival. Finally after the morning shift Fenrir was finally off the clock for the rest of the day, he had already made plans to spend the day with Xai, not that he had any clue on what they would even do together. Fenrir had to wonder if this would be considered a date, but then dismissed the thought when he realized that for it to be a date they would first need to be dating. Not that Fenrir had anything against dating Xai, but that was not the kind of relationship they had. They were friends, friends with an agreement to entertain each other from time to time. Xai was better off anyways, Fenrir did not see himself as good boyfriend material. He thought of himself as clingy and too nice, most girls liked a bad boy, and Fenrir did not think of himself as a bad boy, although he did have his moments. Fenrir made a rush to the main area of the festival, closet to where the merchants and food stalls were, he found their meeting place and then just waited. He had no clue on how long he was going to have to wait, for all he knew Xai could be seconds or minutes away. He knew that the wait wouldn't matter, or be long, since Xai had made the gall to comment on him not being late a few days ago. There was no way that after that comment that he was going to keep from being the first one there and on time. He found a good spot where he could lead against a wall in peace. He watched as people walked by and chatted, he even took the time to get distracted by a stall full of food. Fenrir promised himself that the food stall would be first stop after finally meeting up with Xai after waiting. Only problem was, waiting was starting to be a hard thing. Location: Site A Tag: Xaireal Word Count: 528 +%50(264) = 792

[Mellow]

[attr="class","tbox"]

[attr="class","tcover"]

[attr="class","uh"] [attr="class","uhh"] HP:100 SP:100

[attr="class","tscroll"]

---

Current Weapons: Left Fist & Right Fist



Current Armor: Starting Cloth Armor



Current Accessories: N/A

---

After the events that took place previously, Mellow and Megani were pretty content with themselves; a new kind of relation ship forming between the two. "I didn't know you were a romantic, Mr. Man" He chuckled in embarrassment; scratching his mask while moving forward "Yeah, well, y'know, I mean..she was being a bitch; what did you expect me to do?" Megani giggled, her bright smile filling his world with every moment it existed "You did everything I didn't expect..and that's why I love you so much!" He gave her a warm smile, seeming oddly okay with the bliss shared between the two; even if it may have been for a short amount of time.

"Wait!"

Mellow turned around to notice the green-haired woman running after him, curling up his fists, he prepared for combat at this point; royal guard or not, he wasn't going to stand here and allow this woman to continue insulting him. "What is it now, woman? You've come lookin' for a fight or what?!" Festival-goers stopped and took a look at the action slowly unfolding before their very eyes; the green-haired woman finally approaching the two. She hunched over; out of breath, a look of worry on her face as she mustered the words to speak. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier with my sister! She's not the best at speaking kindly with others. I hope she didn't leave too bad of an impression on you". Mellow thought to himself, thought long and hard about the green-haired woman's appearance, thought about everything he'd seen on her. "Okay..green hair.. blue eyes.. no pig--" It suddenly came to him. The girl in front of him wore glasses and pig tails, the woman he met earlier wore no such thing. Yet another face palm. "AUGH! I feel like such a douchebag.. Everything I said to her made no sense! I should have dissed her on, y'know, shit that mattered"! Megani burst into laughter, realizing that was the only thing Mellow was concerned about. That's my Mellow for you.

Mellow hadn't realized it, but the green-haired woman was blushing. Why was that? Was she embarrassed or something? By the time that Mellow had realized it, she gasped, blushed harder, then pivoted; rushing back to the tent "Well, I hope that everything works out for you; good luck with your speed dating match ups!". "What was that all about?" Mellow scratched his head, unaware of her emotions while Megani clinched her free hand; knowing full well her emotions. "She's got a little crush on my Mellow..I'll have to make sure that doesn't get out of hand. If he's going to go with anyone.. it won't be her". Finally resuming progress, the two made their way to the theater; now uninterrupted in said quest. "So what's playing at this theater anyway?" She shrugged " I dunno, I just thought it'd be interesting to see." He shrugged in response "Sounds reasonable enough to me. I'm fine with that".

[ The Duo Has Now Entered Site B ]

"Wooow, this place looks beautiful!" Mellow had been walking with his hands in his pockets; Megani's left arm wrapped around his right arm to assure she stayed cuddled up to him at all times. "Woah, they have a bunch of food stalls!" Megani tucked mercilessly on Mellow's arm, dragging him towards the first food stall she saw. "Virn's Burgers hmmn? Seems a tad bit risky if you ask me" She quickly shot him the puppy dog eyes; her tugs relentless "But.. if that's what you want I guess we can check it out.". As they approached the stall, a large husky man greeted them with a plate full of cheese burgers. "Hav'a buiga on da house, cur'tasee of Virn em'self!" Megani's eyes lit up, staring towards Mellow until he picked up a burger. "Alright, sure, I'll give it a shot." Taking a large bit, his mouth instantly began to water; cheeks stinging with deliciousness as he gave a soft gasp; more than content with it's taste "Holy shit, dude, this burger is freakin' awesome!" Virn gave a wide smile to the man, handing him a wrapped up burger before sending him on his way "He'ya go! You take care now"!

"Wow.. I can't believe how nice that guy was, maybe we can--
Excuse me, do you know where I can find any alcohol? "

What..was..that HORRIDLY BROKEN accent that just stung his ears? He turned around to see a very unique looking man, clearly foreign, asking him if he knew where any of the pubs were around here? "Oh..whose he? He looks kinda cute!" He flicked his head one before giving his attention to the foreign man, wondering just what his situation was before he got here. "Nah, sorry man, I can't say that I have. I'm just as new to this place as you probably are." Megani tugged at him one more time, another puppy dog expression burning his eyes and filling his mind with one command and one command only. Can we keep em? After shaking his head from left to right, she puffed her cheeks; Mellow's vision suddenly going black "Hey, since you're lost and I'm lost, why don't we travel together?". After his vision returned back to him, he immediately begun rapidly flicking his forehead; not being able to control his body but knowing full well what was said with it.

"DAMNIT MEGANI!"

"SORRY! HE'S JUST SO CUTE!"

"Well..there's no point in stopping it now"

He sighed, placing his hands deeper into his pockets as he looked up at the man; a slightly embarrassed face upon him. "Sorry about that.. it's hard to explain.. but someone from inside my head just spoke with you right now.. Anyway, I guess I am lost.." He folded his arm out, extending it towards the oddly foreign man in the hopes of forming a friendship with him "Whaddya say? Wanna get lost together?"

That was such a BL thing to say ^_-

SHUT THE neep UP, MEGANI!

- Mellow -



- 1004 + 50% = 1506 Words -



- Muse -



- notes can go here yeah c: -

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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made by little one of gs

[Zyrune]

Hp:100 Mp:100

Laughter filled the air and could be heard throughout the festival square. The streets were beautifully decorated with pink, red and gold streamers that only seemed to glitter in the air. The street was bathed in wonderful beams of sunlight wrapping all who stood laughing in beautiful golden rays of pure warmth. Breathing in the many wondrous smells of the festival Zyrune sat at one of the many pop up venders that adorned the streets, this one however seemed to specialize in sushi or coconia fruit sushi. Apparently unbeknownst to the druid the city of Londinium had a fairly big seafood market but then again maybe it wasn't Londinium but the small fishing villages nearby. Either way he say a small table by himself with a large dish of a variety of sushi before him, some were filled with all sorts of raw and cooked fish, others contained rice and pickled ingredients and others contained coconia slices.

The druid had yet managed to eat anything, he had heard that the Japanese preferred to use their hands, but the server had provided him with a set of chopsticks and the druid wasn't going to yet admit defeat in the matter of Zyrune versus the sushi. Slowly he managed to control the two small sticks and plucked a relatively small piece of sushi from his plate. Slowly he moved the sushi from the plate and took his time dipping it into a nearby saucer of flavored liquid, he acted as if the sushi was a time bomb that needed to be treated with the utmost care otherwise the bomb would explode. Next the druid brought the piece of sushi now covered in a variety of different flavorings to his mouth, open wide, his tongue fully extended. He smirked as the piece made contact with his tongue erupting in a multitude of flavors, Zyrune couldn't help but grin at the situation and at how amazing the sushi tasted. In his previous life the druid had been vegetarian, however since he woke up in the world, he decided that since monsters were in fact evil and food was taken from them, he could once again eat meat, besides he still wasn't sure if they were actually alive.

Slowly once more the druid went to retrieve another piece from his plate while looking around at the different types of venues and places the festival had to offer. Tadashi had sent word that he would be along soon, but the lander had yet to show and the druid was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't going to come at all which was a surprised as the lander seemed particularly interested in the festival for some reason. As Zyrune inhaled deeply, he wondered what stall he should go to next. Among the many attractions, there was so many merchant stalls, you could try your hand at games, even get your future told, maybe even your love life and much much more, he doubted that anyone would have been bored unless the choose to for the duration of the festival, there simply was no way anyone could pass up a game or too. As another piece of sushi pass his lips, the druid cast his hands upwards and shouted. "I LOVE THE SKILL SHOWTIME!" Immediately the area around him erupted in the bright golden light of the showtime skill. He couldn't help but turn a bright shade of red as he realised the piece he had eaten had contained some well hidden coconia fruit. 

Hp:100 Mp:100
WC: 587
Abilities Used: Showtime
Tagged: None
Notes:

[Polack]

Polack
|| oh...ok? ||

And so Polack really managed it, he spoke up to a person and it seemed like he will be engaged into a real conversation, something he didn't do for a long while now. Now that he thought about it... he almost had a normal conversation on here once...

It was a while back, he went into a shop, because he considered starting to work on his crafting level. In the shop was a quite cute merchant girl and that's when Polack once decided, that he should give it a try. "Hey, what a beautiful girl doing in place like that?" Maybe his English wasn't that good, but he decided, that he could make that up with his smile, his incredible polish smile. It actually worked. He saw her blush and she put her hands together and straightened her back in order to make the breast point out more, the typical reaction of a prey that has been caught in his spell. Proceeding to the next stage, he leaned against a wall and asked "So, what you think, dinner, today?" His one eyebrow lifted and a smirk on his face, the damage dealt to her defense was enough to brake it completely. She hid her face, nodded shyly and was about to accept the offer, as Polack realized, that he wasn't leaning against the wall, but against a wall cupboard which didn't seem to stand correctly, because it suddenly leaned over and before Polack could do anything it crashed down. It would have been a situation to save, if not the fact, that it fell dwon directly on the girl, crushing her below it. Completely perplex, he stared at what he has done...and then backed to the door...and left.

What then happened what left Polack completely perplex. Somehow he managed everything that has been said, but at first it didn't make any sense. But due to that one explanation and because Polack noticed the change in intonation, he came to the conclusion, that this person must be schizophrenic. Well, that was unexpected. What should he do? Even though the disability he... or her... or perhaps the best is to say 'they' seemed to be good people. What was a bit uncomfortable was the fact, that the female part of this persona considered him cute. First not knowing what he should say, Polack simply looked at them two as normal as possible. On the other side it was a nice feeling, they wanted to travel with him together and despite that they were very excentric, it really was something nice. "Sure." Polack said simply and shook the hand of the person. It was actually surprising how smooth all this happened. But standing there around would be rather awkward, it was best to come up with something. "Well..." Polack started, but he quickly realized, that he simply won't come up with anything good. Another few seconds passed, but after that he decided, that he will simply ask "...What we do now?".

Word Counter: 500
+50% Bonus: 750
People in Contact with: Mellow

[Valerie]

The fourteenth of February was never a day that Valerie disliked, but that was because she would treat it like any other day, go to school then dance practice then go home and sleep. It was never a day that made the girl cringe, but it has officially become a day she will dislike for the rest of her life.


The poor girl was dazed as her eyes fell upon the Londinium District. The city usually bore a green and grey appearance because of the overgrowth over the buildings, but today it was glowing pink and heart-shaped items could be seen everywhere. The girl’s violet eyes darted around, trying to find something that wouldn’t hurt her eyes. It wasn’t that the girl didn’t like the colour pink or heart-shaped things… She did after today though.


The girl had walked into the city (Site A) and saw couples everywhere, that was expected. But the aura that everyone gave off was also pink, like cotton candy. The atmosphere in the district seemed too sugary sweet for Valerie. People were being unusually nice to everyone and couples were exceptionally sweet with their significant other. Everything she saw was pink, all the food, all the booths, and even some people wore pink. What she saw that day was part of the reason she will forever dislike February 14th.


What happened that day was the other part of the reason she forever dislike February 14th. Valerie was walking down the street, darting around couples and crowds, when suddenly one of the people of the land stepped in front of her blocking her path. The area was rather crowded but she should have been able to pass by the man since he was actually quite slim. What was blocking her path was the costume he wore. The lander had worn a heart shaped box and handed her a piece of paper. She read the paper and her eyes widened and gave it back to the man, slightly offended. It was an advertisement for a speed dating booth and the man kept trying to persuade her to join. Valerie tried to walk away many times but he kept following her.


The poor girl was getting desperate and decided to make a run for it, pointing at something random, making the man look and ran while he was not looking. Running with no destination in mind was not the best idea because when she got to the middle of the square, she didn’t know which way to go. Behind her, the girl saw the heart man plowing through the crowds of people, trying to get to her. It was rather an amusing sight to see, a grown man in a heart costume running through crowds of people, knocking people over as he went. But this was not at all funny for Valerie at the moment. She cursed in her head and ran toward the entrance of the city, running against the people trying to enter the crowded city, and out of the city’s borders. Valerie stopped just outside the entrance and hid in a tree as the Heart guy appeared at the border, calling for her, but didn’t dare cross the edge. The girl panted slightly, trying to catch her breath, relieved that he didn’t follow her out. Soon enough, the man gave up and disappeared back into the city.


Still shaken by what happened that day, the girl shivered as she left the district the go monster hunting, vowing to never go out on the fourteenth of February.


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[Xaireal]

[attr="class","lyric"]baby, i'm preying on you tonight [attr="class","word"] 874 (1311) WORDS Today was the day. Xai couldn't believe how much she was excited for this. She wasn't really a romantic person, and she usually found the displays of pink and red and hearts sickeningly sweet. Then again, this was back in China where public displays of affection weren't exactly common and that such a spectacle usually wasn't tolerated by most people. Even when her close friends found boyfriends, she had found the display rather disgusting. But this was different now, seeing as even the most intimate things she had done already. Back then she hadn't experienced half the things she had now. Still, Valentine's was close enough to the Lunar New Year that she didn't pay it much time, usually in the lieu of cleaning. She could be using this time to clean. She really should be using this time to clean. But instead she was waiting until the afternoon rolled by so that she could meet Fenrir and do whatever it is that people did in festivals like this. She didn't remember what it was like last year. She had woken up this morning with a mysterious bed partner that she quickly shooed away because they probably weren't good anyways since she could hardly remember what they were like. And then she had set aside the time to head off to her more humble abode and get ready for the day. She wanted to look more than presentable, in fact she wanted to look absolutely fabulous for this occasion. Yeah, she was a little bit of an attention whore at times, and especially when it involved a lot of people who could potentially see her. Xai had a reputation to uphold, after all. Not that it would be doing her much good as she was leaving a couple of days after this. Perhaps Fenrir would be delighted to inform her of this decision more? Because all she had gotten was a vague estimate before she left him. Although that was partially her own fault - she couldn't help herself. And who knew a lander such as her could have been so... enjoyable. Perhaps she could drop by once more before she and Fenrir had to bid the poor girl farewell. She was so head over heels for wolf boy it was kind of adorable. Xai did quickly get her mind off of it though. Landers were so simple minded sometimes. Lander ladies even more. All she had to do was utter a few words to ease their minds and they were puddy in her hands. Didn't work so well with Adventurers, since they were never the easy sort anyways. But after a year of learning all of the tricks of trade, she eventually learned how to manipulate them just as well. After all, she was an adventurer too. She hopped over to the place that she and Fenrir agreed to meet. She slowed down, making one last final hair check and make up check before she arrived at their meeting place. She wasn't late, not this time anyways. She had made a mental note to herself - she didn't want Fenrir complaining. If anything, she was a little ahead of schedule. She figured she could look around a bit before meeting up. It seemed like she didn't have the chance, because right at the place they had agreed to meet, she already saw Fenrir. Well, Xai couldn't rag on him for being late. But she could tease him for being earlier. And... oh, men were sometimes so easy, thinking with their stomachs. And sometimes with another part of their body, but right now it was particularly obvious to know that Wolf Boy was hungry with the way he was just staring longingly at the food stands. "Hey, wolf boy. Don't think you're going to eat without me." She had tapped him on the back to get his attention. She forewent the call she was going to make him, seeing as he was already there and they could go on with the day much quicker this way. "And you're early. Thought you were going to make a habit of being late after the last time we met. Orrr did you just miss me too much? I know, I know, I'm just that great. I completely understand. We can start with the food, aren't I just the nicest? I'm hungry, so can you get food for the both of us?" Xai beamed at Fenrir, although she was smirking underneath. She really wanted food, and she didn't really want to pay for it, either. She was cheap enough to sleep with the cafe boss's daughter for free food, but with Fenrir that tactic wouldn't work at all. "Oh. Speaking of food, how's that girl doing? What's her name... the boss's daughter. Next time to see her, tell her I said hi! She was quite... surprising, you're really missing out. But best not lead her on." Fenrir was too much of a decent guy to do that. But Xai herself had very little shame about it at all. "C'mon, let's go! Let's not keep the starving wolf and fox hungry, eh?" With that, Xai nudged him to the nearest food stand that he had been eyeing on this whole time.

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[Fenrir]

While Fenrir waited he did wonder about a few things, one of those things was wondering about the small fact that this could be a date, well if it was with any other woman. When it came to Xai Fenrir hardly ever thought of things in that direction, and was starting to wonder if that was a god or bad this. Was it an insult that he didn't think of her as the type he would date, or was it what she wanted? He really did not know if what they were doing was right, but Xai seemed to not mind the odd relationship that they had. They were friends, or at leas Fenrir assumed that they were. Friends that enjoyed both spending time with each other in and out of the bedroom. Fenrir shifted in his space, he had not been waiting long but it was already feeling like it was ages since he got to the meeting place. Still he really did not have to wait as long as he thought, since Xai did show up pretty quickly, not that he had really noticed. Any other day he would have noticed her coming up behind him like the way she did, but not today there were just too many distractions around him. He had a good eye for attention and good ears and nose, but with all the craziness going around he was not able to keep track of everything going on around him. Fenrir turned to face Xai, giving her his full attention, and full attention indeed. She was beautiful, and even more so then usual. Fenrir had no clue who she was trying to impress or get the attention of, but she surely had his attention. Although he was not sure how to say it out loud he was quick to admit to himself that she was attractive and that he kind of wish that she was all his, but that was being a bit selfish. "My, now aren't you looking looking pretty, got a hot date planned?" He smirked, not being able to stay away from the quick joke, but he did fix it just as quickly. "I am only teasing, you are looking lovely today." He was not ashamed in complimenting a woman, if the deserved it, he was more than willing to hand it out. With how good Xai was looking today, he was going to let her know, and probably more then once by the end of the night. He raised an eyebrow at her at the mention of food, she was really going fully out with her charm today wasn't she? Fenrir did not mind the idea of treating her though, after all he was the one that mentioned the festival, even if it was a bit off handed. In his own way he had asked her to join him, so it made sense that he would be the one dishing out the cash today. He nodded slowly as he agreed to go get the food, but before he could fetch them something she brought of a different topic altogether. He paused for a moment, not completely sure what she was going on about till he thought about what happened a few days ago. He hadn't thought that it was fair, or right in what Xai did that day, but he was not about to scold her on what he thought was right or wrong. "She's fine, although, I wouldn't worry about myself leading anyone on, I do worry that you might be the one that should worry about that." Fenrir was the good guy here, and even with Xai, even with all the times they slept together, he was always the respectful one, h would never think of himself to be the one that would lead anyone on. But Xai was a different story, Fenrir was sure she had probably broken many hearts. Fenrir just hoped that he would never be one of them, maybe that was why he couldn't allow himself to see himself ever having a relationship with Xai, he already expected it to end with himself being hurt. "Alright, alright no need to push." Fenrir turned his attention the the nearest food stand, got the merchant's attention, bought a snack for himself and Xai and then returned his attention fully back on Xai. "So is there anything in particular that you wanted to do here?" He asked in between bites of him new found love in food. Festivals were always the best, it always brought out the people that could really cook. Cook to where the food tasted like room and made you feel good. Fenir was a chef, so he knew the difference between good food and bad food. Even though they did not have to eat to live, eating was such a habit for Fenrir, even more so when you found food or drink that had a real taste to it. Word Count: 826 +50% (413) = 1239

[barrythechopper]

Barry wakes up on some alley on Londinium district After taking a very long sleep cause by the exhausting non stop search and destroy personal mission. Almost like every day and nigh Barry wanders on the streets, alleys, rooftops of the Londinium district but todays is different, Barry notices the streets are decorated with a number of pink, red, and gold streamers. "Is it already noon?" he asked himself, "ugh! I overslept I wasted a couple of hours, what if they already get passed through this street" and directed his attention on the streamers he pauses for a minute or two and observes the surroundings, he realizes how busy the streets are today, Putting on his cloak, Barry started to wandered off the streets of the Londinium district.


Barry's strolls on the lively and festive Londinium District took him four hours doing window shopping, testing stuffs, staring people, collecting information about the party he was looking for, without confronting or asking anyone directly and also evading to much attention. But when Barry reached the Londinium Festival Square where he saw much more stalls of merchants lined along side of the road "this right here is a good shit" Barry happily said to himself.

Barry saw a lot of merchants and festival stands that sells some weird foods using a raw material that he have not seen before as a main ingredient, Barry cant help being curious as he observe what kind of material are they using. as he looks he saw it is a heart shaped and has a shades of dark to light pink, he assumed that it is a fruit that is abundant when a event starts. On his walks Barry discovered a trivial thing about the mysterious raw material used on creating different dishes sold by merchants, it is a Coconia fruit and he have this feeling of mushy warm feelings floating around and engulfing the whole city, People are smiling, laughing, eating. Barry even saw a speed dating and fortune telling, he paused and said to himself "Is that speed dating? HA HA" Barry chuckles about the fact that even getting stuck on the Elder Tale there are still time for some things like speed dating and also Barry criticise the Fortune tellers "Fortune telling is a very old modus on how to scam people". Barry continued his walking pace while telling himself "I aint got no time foh that!".

The smell of something delicious has caught Barry's attention and follow the smell, Barry disregarding his cover asked the people around the cluster of mobs, the one that he asked answered that it was one of the events during the Londinium Festival , it includes a cooking contest where participants try to make the best pork chops. The one that he was searching and drooling for is the Coconia Pork Chops - it is a Barbecue pork chops sizzling with flavor. They are cooked with Coconia sauce and other spices, giving the meat a tangy BBQ sauce flavor. Barry enjoys his whole afternoon by eating delicious preparation of meats.

WC:511 + 50% (255) = 766

[Xaireal]

[attr="class","lyric"]baby, i'm preying on you tonight [attr="class","word"] 668 (1002) WORDS "Hot date? Well, if you consider this a hot date, then by all means I suppose I do." What lovely banter they both had. Not a minute into their meeting they were already playing with their words. Xai had to roll her eyes a bit over it. "Unless you decide to somehow turn this into a hot date, I wouldn't oppose at all." She was definitely hinting that, before the night was over she'd like to bring him back to her place. Maybe hang out, talk in the privacy of her own home, make some plans about what he wanted to do exactly concerning this great quest to find his sister... amongst other things that would make the night more enjoyable for her. Last night was definitely a disappointment. She's take the poor lander girl over whoever the heck that was, because it was probably boring and atrocious. At least she was a quick learner. At least she was very responsive to her every touch. Ahh... sometimes girls were so much better than men, but men also had their high points. Particularly one very nice point that girls were otherwise missing. Speaking of which, did Fenrir really say what she thought he said? She put her hand over her heart and made an expression that clearly encompassed the emotion of being flabbergasted and shocked that he would ever accuse her of such a thing. Although Xai did admit that it was half exaggeration, because Fenrir really did know here well enough. "What? Me? Lead someone on? Why I'd never." But her smile signaled to him that she was very much aware of just how many hearts she broke. Though she didn't know why - what exactly were people expecting of someone like her? Obviously she wasn't going to dedicate herself to just one person. "But I don't think you have to worry about it with her. I may have changed her entire world (and sexuality), but trust me, she is just as smitten with you as ever. Hope you don't mind, I let it slip you're very, very good to me." She lowered her voice on that last point, drawing out the words in a seductive manner and leaning closer to him. She pulled back as he went to get their food. She was quite hungry, though only mildly so. Xai wasn't too picky over the food she got, after all it was free and she should never look a gift horse in the mouth. Even if this was Fenrir and it would just be so easy to insult him in some way. But today was probably not a good day to do that, especially since this was some sort of odd Valentine's outing. "Lover boy, you invited me out here. I thought you had some sort of plan. If this is some sort of practice for a date, you are doing a very poor job at impressing the girl here." But still she giggled. "I actually wanted to get my fortune told! And have someone buy me a good luck charm, if you would be so kind. Not that I'd really need it, to be fair. I'd suggest speed dating but I don't think that would be fun for the two of us to do together you know? Let's still check it out, though." She mulled over what else they could possibly do. "And after all that's over, I'd love to have a private talk at my home about what we're planning to do in a few days. I trust you've have significant time to think over things and plan it out? Let's start with deciding a date to leave Londinium." She knew this day was supposed to be fun for the two of them, but she did need some things cleared up about how they were going to go about things in the next couple of days. "And afterwards, maybe we could take the time to relax? When exactly was the last time we did that together..."

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[Fenrir]

The was just the way they worked, bantering back and forth with the silliest things. A date, if she wanted to play that game he was more than willing to. After all when had been the last time either one had ever been on a date? Living in elder tale there were a few things that ended up not being so important, such as eating, dying, or dating. Still Fenrir did find that it was good to just sit back and relax sometimes, food was still good to have from time to time and playing date would be really nice as well. Plus it did help that Xai was great to be around and he wouldn't mind pretending to date her, at least for today. "Whatever you want to do is fine by me." Date or not, Fenrir knew how this night was going to end, and he was not against any of it. "Smitten or not, I'm not too worried about it, Xai I know you enough to know that you wouldn't try to hurt anyone on purpose, not even a lander." He had a lot of faith in her honestly, he trusted Xai a lot more than he probably should, but that was fine. After grabbing the food and handing Xai the first thing he could buy he focused in on what she was saying and thought pretty hard about it. He really hadn't made any pland for them and was now feeling a bit bad about it. He was normally the type that let friends drag him around, so it made sense that he was expecting the same from Xai. Even his sister, who was never able to step out of the house, would have been someone he would have aimlessly followed around. He went over in his head about all the things that were offered today and agreed with some of the things that Xai had pointed out. "Yea, speed dating does not sound like the greatest idea, but fortune telling does sound interesting, not that I'm big on believing them, only that they are silly enough to be fun." Although there were a lot of strange things that were true in elder tale, Fenrir was not about to believe that someone was able to just tell what was going to happen in your furture, if it was that easy then where would be the fun in living. Plus with no worry about death, there was little point in worrying about the future, after all they had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted. Her next question was a bit harder to answer, since he really had no answer for it. "About that, leaving Londinium, I'm fine with any day just because I really don't have anything holding me back. I mean theres my apartment and job, but the boss is willing to hold the spot for me, so thats all been taken care of already. Really xai, just say the word and we'll be out of town that day, I just want to give you enough time to take care of what you need to worry about." He was trying to be easy going about this trip, sure he wanted to just run across the map looking for his sister, but he already had in mind that this was gonig to take some time, so he really did not want to rush Xai. The last thing he wanted was to upset her, after all, she was all he had, the only person he could really trust, and he really did want her by his side. He took a bit of his meal, allowing for things to set in before adding on last thing, a commented he had debated leaving alone. "Relaxing huh? Yea we really haven't had a chance in a while, but I'm pretty sure we can find some time. After all, today, its just me and you, enjoying it all to the fullest." The was the nicest way of saying, yes, yes I will be sleeping with you tonight, lets just chill out a bit first. Location: Site A Tag: Xaireal Word Count: 687 +%50(343) = 1030

[Steel]

"Geez, what the heck is wrong with this place?" Steel asked himself as he walked around the area. The atmosphere was way too sweet and suffocating. This is probably what every person who is single feels from this sort of thing. No wonder today has been nicknamed 'Singles Awareness Day'. Steel thought to himself as he walked through the streets of the town of Londonium, He's already been through enough earlier back in Stratford and he really didn't want to go through more of it. In fact, he wondered what he was doing here. Oh right, I came here so I could craft some stuff. Steel remembered his reasons for coming which he had finished just a while ago. Londonium was the only place he knew where he could find a place to craft his stuff and it seems the festival was today for here. If I had known, I would have postponed my visit here. He thought to himself. "Well, hopefully nothing will go wrong today unlike last time." He whispered to himself. Right after he said that, he had bumped into someone. When he turned to see who it was, it was a girl, a guy was right next to her, presumably her date for the day. "You okay there?" He asked the girl he bumped into as he offered a hand to help her up. As that happened, romantic sparkles came from and put the girl in a slight love sick like trance. This did not go unnoticed by the guy who was her boyfriend and that guy became irritated at Steel. Whoa, Deja vu. Steel thought to himself as he remembered this happened last time as well.

"What do you think you're doing, hitting on my girl?" The guy said as he got a hold of Steel's collar. It seemed he didn't know about the Courtesan ability or it's just that he was pissed that his date became like that. Not that his rage was completely unreasonable. The guy looked a bit more closely at Steel. "Hey, you're the ******* from last time!" He exclaimed even more angrily. It was indeed the guy Steel first pissed off back in Stratford. At this, Steel started to sigh for two reasons. First, he didn't want to get into a conflict and second, he knew this wasn't going to get any better from here. He hurriedly turned the skill off, snapping the girl out of her little trance. I hate how this skill acts like a running gag!! Steel exclaimed in his mind before using martial arts to escape his captor's grip and jumped back.

"Sorry about that!" Steel exclaimed before running off. He hoped that he wouldn't be chased by that guy although he probably would like he did last time. This day was already off to a bad start and the Half Alv Swashbuckler hoped that this day wouldn't get any worse. Oh who was he kidding? Steel already knew what was going to happen next.

A few minutes later...

Just as I expected. Steel thought to himself as he continued to run. For some reason, probably because of the day of the year, that subclass skill kept turning on to the point that Steel just gave up on turning it off each time. Unfortunately, because of this skill, Steel ran across several similar situations where he accidentally caused a girl to fall into a trance in front of her date, causing the said date to chase after him in anger. On a side note, the girls affected went back to normal once Steel was over 10 meters away. As he escaped his latest foe, Steel was just getting tired of it. "At this rate, I'll be the enemy to all men and I won't be able to catch a break." Steel said as he panted a little. Although he was more physically fit than most people, he's had to run a lot so being tired was expected. He was partially amazed that nobody has caught him yet. He knew that he had to lie low for at least a while. But how would he do that when he stuck out like a sore thumb being one of the people who didn't have a date and his Courtesan skill wasn't helping either. For once, he couldn't have a low presence, something he took for granted in the past.

A while later, Steel had managed to shake off his pursuers and was now catching his breath in an alleyway. "It's even worse than back in Stratford, my Courtesan skill got leveled up so much from last time." He said to himself in slight annoyance. Back in Stratford, his Courtesan's level was pretty low. But now, it was getting close to level 15, thereby making the effects stronger. Steel began to fear what would happen if his Courtesan subclass level got to 90 or something. Although he was a guy and he had interest in the opposite sex, he thought that being surrounded by girls due to the skill would make him feel uncomfortable due to his case of light Asperger Syndrome and the fact that he didn't like to manipulate the hearts of others. "I need a change of pace." Steel said as he began to walk over to where Big Ben was. He had noticed that concerts were going on and he wanted to participate.

On the way, he had to pass through the festival square which was probably the most crowded due to all of the stuff here. Not wanting what happened earlier, Steel made sure to turn it off and hoped that his skill would not activate and cause him trouble again. He seemed to be able to conceal his presence pretty well. For once, I'm glad that I have a low amount of presence. Steel thought to himself with a sigh. He was not used to being a light as Steel would call it. A person who attracts all of the attention and retains it. Steel is more used to being a shadow, one who did the exact opposite so when he got so much attention at once, negative attention at that, Steel was unnerved. It was then someone was calling him over. It was a woman at a stall that was labeled Speed Dating Booth. Oy vey, what does she want? Steel wondered what she was calling him over for, most likely, it was to have him sign up. When he walked over there, it seemed he was correct. She asked whether he would sign up. Steel didn't want to sound rude yet he didn't exactly have a reason to sign up for the event. For once, Steel decided to put his Courtesan skill to use. He turned it on and began to speak to her while the romantic sparkles were emitted from him. "Mind if I think it over a bit? One shouldn't rush decisions like this. I'll write my name down though in the case I do choose to come." His words, or rather the effects that came along with them made the woman at the booth swoon before nodding. He didn't really like doing this but he thought it was necessary as he took a flyer for the event and left the stall.

Further along the way, he found a sushi place and Steel was somewhat excited. It's been a while since he's had food from his homeland of Japan. He walked over to the stand and called out to the owner and most likely chef. "Oji-san, I'll take some sushi!" He exclaimed to the chef in a rather loud tone. This was partially habit as especially in ramen and sushi restaurants in Japan, the chef and sometimes the customers would be quite loud in ordering food and greeting. Since this was another country, Steel hoped that he didn't offend the guy or anything. 

"Kakujitsuna koto!" The man said in response. The content of the what the chef said, something that would translate to 'Sure thing', it was the fact that this man was speaking Japanese.

"Um, nihongo o hanashimasuka?" Steel said in Japanese, asking if the man was able to speak the language. He didn't seem to be Japanese in terms of heritage yet he was talking fluently.

"Hai, nihongo o hanashimasu." The man said in response, affirming that he could speak the language. "Demo, orewa jouzu janai." He said that he wasn't that good at the langauge.

"Then would you be more comfortable speaking in English?" Steel asked switching the language once more. For some reason, Steel lacked an accent and was able to speak in English comfortably as well.

"Yeah, that would help a lot." The chef said as he began preparing sushi.

"Did you go to Japan or live there at some point back in the other world?" Steel asked. From how the man talked, he knew this man was a fellow adventurer. While the people of the land would call the people in Japan, Yamato in their eyes, Yamatonese or something, this man used the term Japanese.

"I was there for a year or two." The man replied as he continued his work. "That's where I learned my trade as a sushi chef. I'm one of the few sushi chefs here in london that learned his craft from the source. I knew this Russian who makes his own Russian Sushi and it just ain't the same."

"That sounds cool, I'll come over to your place whenever I want Japanese cuisine then." Steel said with a smile.

"I'll look forward to your visits." The man said as he finished up his craft and handed a rather large bag of sushi to Steel. "Here, it's on the house today."

"This much? Thanks!" Steel thanked the man and continued on his little walk. He was planning on eating the sushi he just got later. Pretty soon, he reached the performance area. Nobody was performing at the time and it seemed to be up in the air meaning anyone could just go up there and perform. Might as well break the ice and get things going. Steel thought to himself as he jumped onto the stage. As he did, Steel manipulated his inventory menu and summoned out his piano, making it appear in the center of the stage. He sat on the seat that came with it and put his hands on the keys. Since the day is all about love, I'll just play songs about it. Steel thought to himself as readied his mind for what he would play. Kreisler's Love's Joy and Love's Sorrow. He would combine both songs, something moderately easy to accomplish as they were companion pieces. From his memory, the play that would start had both elements and that's why he chose to do this.

His fingers began to dance on the keys, producing beautiful music. He heard these two songs a lot when he was a child so he knew them by memory. He started off powerfully and full of intensity but then changed his playing style so that it sounded so gentle and beautiful. The audience became captivated by his playing and it helped that the Courtesan skill that he kept on attracted the attention of people in the first place. However, this time nobody was in the love sick trance which caused him trouble earlier. Steel just continued to play in the style he felt and it created a powerful imagery to the point that some in the audience began to wonder whether it was an illusion. As his song neared the end, he began to slow down and created a beautiful yet dramatic close to the song. He stood up and bowed as the audience applauded. It was then he sat back down and played another song, one more modern. He began playing the slow version of 'Everytime we touch' and he also began to sing. In some ways, this fit the mood more and it drew more admirers, something he found out after he finished. Steel ran away after putting away his piano to get away from the mob of people. I gotta get out of here. Steel thought as he used his misdirection to disappear and get away. He then began wondering what would happen to him next.

Words 2050

OOC: Go ahead and create a situation for me if you want.

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The sound of Saber’s boots clattering against the road was completely drowned out by the sound of a horde of other players around him. The noise of the festival was deafening, almost. As he walked and glanced at the various different stalls, activities, and people wandering around, the little one by his side made an array of various noises as her eyes were filled with the various different colors and scenes before her. She reminded Saber of an actual youngster in reality. Everything was new, everything! Every step she took was some sort of adventure into a new land and everything was a new discovery. Londinium’s Valentine’s Day festival was no different and it actually was much more vibrant than the little one had ever seen. The various shades of red, pink, and white on decorations and stalls made her gleam, her eyes darting from one object to the next. The little Ripper Jack was like a sponge, absorbing every sight she could. Saber simply held her little hand and guided her along, ensuring that she kept walking by his side rather than end up lost somewhere. Her grabbing his hand may have actually been a smart idea…

“Mister Saber! Mister Saber! Lookie, lookie!” Suddenly, the little one began to yank on Saber’s hand and pulled at him, causing the Assassin to stop. The man rumbled a little and looked down at the young girl and saw her looking up at him. Once she confirmed that he was looking back at her, she pointed to their left; a stall sat there with a few players looking on. Saber’s nose wiggled as he saw a man draped in a cloak sitting off to the side, a rifle leaning against the wall beside him. The first instinct of the Assassin was to keep walking, as there was no trouble, however he noticed two other players at the stall; the ones who were actually performing the activity. Their eyes were hard, their faces red, and their teeth showing as they held rifles of their own in their hands.

“Alright, let’s go see.” His answer didn’t come the way it did because of the Ripper’s wish to play, but because of his own curiosity. The man draped in black reminded Saber of himself in a way; quiet, alone, and keeping to himself while looking on with sharp eyes. The two players were being carefully observed by the man in black, and as they played the game he did not look at their targets once; he knew they would fail. Saber’s nose pressed against the cloth covering his face and he let himself be dragged by his little companion through the crowd. Saber watched the two players shoot, the little rifles shooting small corked rounds at a variety of targets; toys, cups, statues, and even a small target with a bullseye in the center. Each object had a number hanging down in front of it, but the bullseye did not. Saber wondered why, but he did not say anything or ask anyone.

“Wow…” As Saber and his companion finally reached the front of the crowd, he stopped right behind the little girl and gently pulled his cloak around himself and her shoulders, keeping her from being snatched or bothered. The simple presence of the level ninety was enough to get people to take a step away from him, but he knew there could be a few brave souls that would try to take one of his partners from him. Blumpy, on the other hand, didn’t give a dayumn about the situation. Saber looked down to check on the little fellow, looking into the little girl’s folded arms to where he was located. The orange bastard was asleep. A light huff escaped Saber’s lips as he saw the pumpkin’s state and he let the little creature be. Rather than bother him, Saber looked up towards the two shooters and the man.

The two players lay flat on their stomachs, rifles in their arms with a small wooden stand in front of them to help hold the rifle up. The rifles were simple ones, bolt action, and the corks were small enough that they were loaded by being stuffed onto the end of the rifle. Cocking the bolt would reset the spring inside of the gun, and pulled the trigger would release the spring. Said spring would shoot forward, forcing all of the air down the barrel. The high pressure would cause the cork to be launched forward and into the air. However, that was the case with only one of the rifles. While one player loaded his corks onto the front of the gun, the second player put his inside. His rifle acted more like a real, true bolt action. He pulled back the bolt, dropped his slightly more aerodynamic cork into the slot, and then closed the bolt. The spring was much stronger, but was much shorter as well. There would be less air for the gun to use, but more force behind the shot. The cork would be able to fly faster and harder, but for a shorter amount of time. The rifle with the cork on the end of the barrel would fly more consistently.

“So… you pick your poison…” Saber thought as he watched the two players fire, both missing their targets completely. In addition to that; they both seemed to fire at the same thing. They both shot at the bulleye target, their corks attempting to strike the distant object pretty much anywhere on the plate. They didn’t seem to care where they hit it, just that they did. At the misses, both players rumbled and their faces grew even more red than they were before; it was almost as if they were going to explode. Saber looked across the “firing range” and sighted their previous shots laying in the dirt. Curious, he tallied them up. In total, there were six of the old style corks and eight of the “bullet” corks, or the more advanced corks. He looked back at the two players and saw their remaining corks beside them. The player with the advanced rifle had two shots left, the other had three. Nine shots total was what the player of the game would get, nine shots to choose their fate. However, it seemed like the game was working against them, as all carnival games did. Saber rumbled.

“They won’t win.” He said, his thoughts slipping out of his mouth. At the words, the two players at his sides looked at him and the little one turned her eyes up towards him. She seemed to question his statement, but not because she was cheering for them, but because she was ignorant. She was ignorant of the game and how it was pretty much made up for the player to lose. Most people wouldn’t notice, but the trained eyes of the Assassin could pick out every detail. The game was set up to make each target an attainable prize should the player either knock the item over, or gain enough points to win something. However, the chances of losing outright were much higher than a person’s chances of winning anything at all. Why? Because of the rifles.

The rifles the players were forced to use were worn down and the corks used over and over again. Saber could see the wear and tear on the guns. He could see where several other people had placed their hands, where they had put the rifle against their shoulders, and he could see the aged firing mechanisms. The guns were not as strong as they were the moment they were made, and that in itself was against the player. The guns did not have the strength or the accuracy required to hit any of the targets head on, but it wasn’t bad enough to where the owner of the stall would be called a fraud. The guns could win in the hands of a decent shooter, but hitting anything worth its own weight would be difficult. In addition, the better items were placed higher and further back than the easier weapons; further decreasing the chances of a player hitting anything good.

Along with the rifles, the ammunition itself was horrid. The corks were light and aged. Every shot took away some of their mass and their density, making them squishier and lighter. Too much power behind too little weight caused a loss of energy, and the corks weren’t able to withstand the beating anymore. They were breaking down around the edges and cork crumbs gathered around their bases. The average player wouldn’t care about this, he would just play. However, someone like Saber wouldn’t dare go near the game… Except there was an alternative, there was one more variable influencing the game. That variable was the owner of the stall; the man dressed in pure black.

He sat where many would say “out of the way” of the game itself, but he sat in a place where a player could see him even if they looked down their sights. The man sat in the corners of their eyes, watching them with a stern glare. He did not speak, he did not move. He simply sat and watched, looking at the player with a hard stare. A person who was faint of heart would find themselves glancing at the man between shots, or even while aiming, as if expecting him to jump at them or say something. But no, he wouldn’t. The man sat there as the two players loaded their guns again and continued to stare, his eyes blinking a few times before locking on to the men.

“How do you know that?” One player hissed at the Assassin, his burly arms folding over his chest. Saber shook his head slightly and remained silent as the two players lifted their rifles again. They tucked the rifles against their shoulders and held them tight. One showed signs of a history of marksmanship at first, but he failed the next test; he didn’t breathe, and that told Saber a lot. The other player held his rifle as if it was his first time, and it made the Assassin cringe. The amateur held his rifle by the barrel, his left arm nearly fully extended and bowed slightly to try and increase his aim; a futile attempt, but a wise one. Well, if it worked it would have been wise but in this case he looked like an idiot. The butt of his rifle didn’t sink into the pit of his shoulder, but instead bucked against it, causing it to be less stable. His neck was also forced to crane as he twisted his head in an attempt to aim. His trigger arm wasn’t to good looking either, as he tucked his elbow beneath his body and clutched onto his weapon for dear life. All in all, it was a sad sight.

The other man, however, lay flat with his chest raised and legs forked. The butt of his rifle fit snuggly in the pit of his shoulder and his right cheek press against the hard wood softly. His right elbow stuck out, his arm curved and flexed as he held the gun with ease. His left hand sat just before the center of the rifle, holding it firmly with his elbow providing a solid base. The wooden block which helped the rifle remain steady and raised sat beneath the barrel, sitting much further out than the player’s competition had his own. There was a clear difference in skill level between the two men, but the outcome was the same.

Both men aimed for the very distant bullseye, their eyes focused on it. Both men steadied their rifles, squeezed the tools of war, and then yanked on the triggers. Both men fired, the left firing a moment before the right. The left cork went high right, the projectile’s trajectory curving as it was pushed by a gentle breeze which flowed through the stall. The right bullet cork lost momentum before it reach its target and was also too far to the left. It dropped off, floated over the items below, ducked underneath the upper shelf, and tumbled before striking the stall’s cloth overhang. The man in black shifted, his left hand extending to a small board. On it, he added two x-marks; one for each player. Zero points, nothing. Both men fumed as their efforts were wasted once more, and they finally decided to throw in the towel.

“Screw this game!” The man with the more advanced rifle quickly loaded his last shot, shoving the bolt forward with pure anger. Then, he shot at the smallest and closest target possible. His aim was horrible and he did not set up the way he should have, but his cork still struck true. The man hit a small yellow coin that was close to being point blank. Any closer and in any better of a position, the man in black would have been better off giving the simple prize away rather than make people fight for it. Then again, the point was probably just that. The man in black wanted people to attempt his game rather than just walk up and take things from him, like several other stall owners were probably doing. And by choosing that route, he was drawing a bit of a gathering. Even when some people knew that all was lost, there was a slim chance of winning, and that it was quite obvious that the game was difficult; challengers still stepped forward to try their hands at the “impossible game”. Saber himself was attracted to the game but not for its impossibility factor. He was here because of his little one.

“Because they weren’t paying attention.” Saber finally answered the other player as the loser dropped his rifle and stood up from his spot. The man in black smirked beneath his hood and watched as the other player did the same, leaving his remaining two shots behind. Rather than even attempt to win something, he gave up and elected that embarrassing himself wasn’t his intention. The man in black tossed a little keychain at the player who had hit the yellow coin and bowed his head. Then, he released a tiny Kobold. The tamed creature made his way to the back of the stall and started to gather up the corks which had been fired. The man in black reached over and cleaned off his little chalk board. Once the Kobold had all of the corks, he went to the firing positions and set them up; nine rounds for each rifle. Each rifle was placed carefully on top of the wooden blocks and the blocks were also reset to make the rifles both look like even choices; even though they were not. The game leaned towards the choice of the more accurate and advanced weapon. With the front-loading rifle, your only option of items would be the ones closest to you. Whereas the other rifle could potentially get the furthers shelf; the third level. However, both would fail when aiming for the bullseye. Its height and central position made shooting it an impossible act by normal means.

“Mister… Can I have that?” The little one’s hand shot forward and she pointed at a small stuffed Kobold. Saber let out a rumble. Said toy was on the third level, and was positioned pretty much right beside the bullseye. If she wanted that thing, he was better off just shooting at the target itself. Though, it would give him an excuse. Saber didn’t want to play the game to show off to the crowd, but there was something about this man that made him want to play. It wasn’t the fact that the man was staring right at him either. It was because of his shady outlook. It reminded Saber far too much of another player he used to know on another server. The man in black reminded Saber of his time as a Guardian.

“I guess I’ll give it a shot.” The words caused a few eyes to shoot over to Saber, and his little one let out a happy giggle as she stepped out of his way. The man in black’s lips pulled into a thin smile beneath his hood. His teeth exposed themselves, as well as two canines. Saber’s nose wiggled and his eyes narrowed on the man, but a simple smile would not be enough to cause Saber to rethink himself. The Assassin wouldn’t turn back on his word, and he also would use this as his own chance to turn the tides. There was a loophole everyone seemed to be missing, a big one. As he was called up to the plate, Saber decided it was time to have his own fun.

With that in mind, he walked out from the edge of the crowd and passed the two previous players. No other challenger stepped forward as the level Ninety approached the rifles, and all of the eyes fell on him. That was good for Saber. Knowing that he wouldn’t have someone attempting to annoy him by his side made him a little more comfortable, but that also meant that all of the eyes previously observing the game would not be locked onto his back. He would be the center of attention for the next few minutes, and it made him frown beneath his cloth mask. Though he would not let it bother him. He had a game to play and the stakes were against him. The odds of him winning this game were slim, even if he put all of his mental power into it. However, he wasn’t going to let some man swindle him so easily. This man would have to be smart, extremely smart, to get the upper hand against Saber. The Assassin had trained far too long and far too hard to be outwitted by a man at the carnival.

“Payment, please.” The man in black suddenly said aloud, his right hand extended from beneath his oversized coat. Saber nodded in response and summoned a few coins from his inventory. He reached his left hand forward and dropped the coins carefully into the extended hand. Upon receiving the cost to play, the extremely pale hand retracted and disappeared beneath the black shroud of a cloak; Saber heard money rattle as the coins were deposited into a purse.

“Pick your rifle.” The man said aloud once more, his eyes fixing themselves on Saber as the Assassin looked down at the two choices set before him. Once more, he looked over their strengths. The rifle on his left was a front-loader; he would put the cork on the front of the barrel, stuffing it into the end, and pull back the bolt. The bolt would prime the spring inside and would compress it. Pulling the trigger would release the spring, which would shoot down the barrel. The pressure would force the air down the barrel and ultimately shove the cork out of the way, firing it across the stall. The makeup of the cork would care a lot of air resistance and drag, making long-range use of it pretty much a waste of time. Yet, it would float in a consistent manner over time.

The alternative option was the more advanced rifle to Saber’s right. This rifle was a breach load; he would put the cork into the breach and seal it inside with the bolt. Pulling the bolt back would prime the spring and pushing it forward would seal the cork inside the barrel. The spring in this rifle was heavier and thicker, most likely having two springs compressed together as well to further increase its power. Pulling the trigger would release the spring, or springs, and the heavy pressure would fire the cork. The ammunition for this rifle took the shape of an actual bullet, giving the corks a more aerodynamic shape than the other weapon. These rounds would travel faster, but their lightness would make them more susceptible to being thrown off course by wind, gravity, or both.

Ultimately, both rifles would leave Saber with a challenge. Add in the age and the wear on them and you had two recipes for disaster. Both weapons would ultimately fail if a person tried to aim for the bullseye, but both would seem like decent choices overall. Your average player would simply grab a rifle and shoot at anything. The more advanced players would take the rifle on the right and aim for the back. One more step up and these players would start aiming at the front row, taking the items and points that they could and ultimately tally them up for the items in the back. The last group would choose neither.

“That one.” Saber pointed at the third option; the rifle which leaned against one of the stall’s support beams. The rifle looked almost completely untouched and unused. Its barrel shined and it operated with a breach, meaning it took the more advanced and accurate corks. Beside it, a set of nine corks were held in a small container; nine which looked pretty much brand new. Of course, Saber’s choice caused a bit of controversy behind him and the man in black looked at the third rifle with strange eyes. Then, he looked back at Saber; his smile grew even further.

“Let’s see how you do…” The black clothed man grabbed the third rifle and the container of corks, lifting them and extending them over to the Assassin. Saber leaned forward towards the man and accepted his weapons.

“Hey! You never said we could use those!” One of the previous players shouted out from the crowd, but the man in black only let out a huff and a chuckle as he leaned back in his chair. He slouched slightly and pulled his cloak loosely around his body. His eyes fell on Saber as the Assassin removed the other two rifles from his sight.

“I never said you couldn’t…” He was right. The man had never said Saber could not chose the rifle he did, nor did he say he could not use the fresh ammunition. He simply stated for Saber to pick a rifle, which was smart and also very tricky. The usual player would instinctively grab at one of the two rifles set before them that the Kobold had placed down and the player would also use the regular ammunition. They wouldn’t think twice about picking the rifle beside the man in black, thinking it belonged to him and him alone. It was smart. The man in black was an intimidating man so attempting to cross him most likely seemed foolish enough in itself, but playing his game and reading between the lines was what most people seemed to have failed to do. In Saber’s case, he simply played to win for that was just who he was. He played to win, and he won to live.

“Pick your targets wisely, player. I will tally your points. At the end of your nine shots, I will add them up. You may use your final points to purchase items from the wall to my right. In addition, each item you hit will be yours.” Saber glanced up to the wall of victory items and noticed the image of a Kobold plushie near the top; it was most likely a placeholder for the actual item, as there were many other images of other stuffed animals and toys all around it. Some of the items were extremely overpriced, mainly to make them difficult to get or near impossible, while others seemed like he was just giving them away. Saber didn’t doubt that the prices were another mind game, so he didn’t bother trying to set a goal for himself. However, he did keep that number in the back of his mind.

“And the bullseye?” The question came from Saber almost half-heartedly as he focused on getting set up to shoot. The assassin placed his nine rounds to his right, setting them up one by one on their butts. Once all nine of his bullets were set up for easy pickings and the container was empty, Saber sat it down off to the side, leaving it for the Kobold from before to use later. He picked up his rifle and slid the wooden brace he had available to him forward and away from himself. Then, he placed the barrel of his weapon down on top of the wood and the butt of his rifle on the grass.

“The bullseye gets you one item on my wall for free of charge, no points required, and also earns you one hundred points.” As he was told of the reward, Saber quickly discovered why it was such a good option to shoot at. Hitting it just once earned the player their money back, as they had free pickings of the entire board. In addition to that, one shot and one hit meant half of the most expensive item, which was a giant plush toy. Said plush toy cost two hundred points. It would take four of the next highest object to win the plush toy, as the next highest point-target was fifty points. That put the bullseye as a golden ticket to stardom, and would allow the player to go from rags to riches in just two hits. However, just getting one would be enough for Saber. All he wanted was the Kobold toy and if he missed everything, the Kobold only cost fifty points so he only had to hit the little plush to the right once.

“Sounds good.” Playing the game would mean ultimately playing into the man in black’s hands, as even with the rifle, Saber had some hurdles to get over. One; Saber didn’t know his tool. The rifle Saber lay down beside was a brand new weapon to him and he had no idea how the corks would react in the air. He had literally just arrived on the scene, so he didn’t have a clue of what to expect here. Two; the distance was an unknown. Saber could visually see that the bullseye was quite a ways off, but he could not exactly tell how far off. There was no clear set of marking telling him the ranges or any sort of way he could effectively guess the stall’s size. As Saber began to focus in on the distant target in the center of everything, the bullseye, he also noticed one more addition detail; it was an optical illusion.

The items set up before him were done in such a way that the closer objects seemed larger, and the items further off seemed smaller than they actually were. The central lane towards the bullseye also seemed to be a little cramped, making aiming both easier and more difficult at the same time. It was easier because Saber could use the lane to focus. He could sight in easily, aim his barrel straight at the bullseye, and push the rest of the information out the window. And that is exactly what the man in black wants; he wants the player to focus in the bullseye. He doesn’t want the player to look at anything else or pay attention to any other details, just the single target in the middle. Deviating from the target makes shooting other items harder because they are harder to see. Not only that, but the focus distorts the brain’s ability to calculate the distance from where the shooter was to the target. Saber needed a clear line of sight, not an illuminated tarmac that doesn’t let him see the entire airport.

With that in mind, Saber pulled back from his rifle and released a huff. The Assassin stared towards the target and pushed himself off the ground some, rising from his elbows and hips to his knees. The target seemed to become a little clearer at the new angle and he could see above everything else that was in his way. The three shelf units split and each item had its own place in his view. Ultimately, Saber found a much better position than lying down. He looked over at the man in black and quietly remembered the rules he had been told; pick his rifle, and then pick his target. Saber had also been enlightened about the distant target and its purpose. The man had not told him how to shoot or where to shoot from, but Saber doubted he could push the limits and walk right up to the target. However he had not been told that he needed to actually shoot from the prone position.

The Assassin’s nose wiggled once more beneath his mask and he grabbed onto the butt of his rifle. He lifted the object off the ground and the wooden block and then up into his arms. It was light, but heavy. The butt of the rifle was much sturdier than the barrel and it seemed to make the rifle automatically want to tilt backwards no matter how he held it. That was both a good and a bad thing. Good because it would be more stable, back because each shot would probably kick like a horse. But Saber didn’t care; he just needed to shoot once. Or maybe nine times just to show that he knew how to play the game set before him. Either way, the plush would be his. Without much further of a delay, Saber grabbed his first round, lifting the bullet cork off its place on the ground and into his fingers. The bolt on his rifle slid back with a click and Saber took a moment to look into the breach. It was clear of all impurities and was clean all through it. As he set the bullet cork into the metal cradle, it nestled right in snuggly. A smirk crossed Saber’s face as he gripped the bolt and then shoved it forward, the cork locking in place as he closed the metal slide.

Armed and ready to fire, the Assassin dropped his right knee into the dirt and lowered his buttocks down onto his heel. The toe of his boot dug into the ground, his heel sticking straight up as it acted as a seat for his body. The side of his right calf and knee dispersed the pressure over a larger surface, making the position more comfortable as the other side of his calf helped create a cushion. His left foot flattened itself on the ground and was positioned just beside his right calf, the entire underbody of the Assassin essentially being able to fit in a small square. His left knee stuck straight up, and his hips rubbed just against the back of his left calf. His upper body remained straight up and down for a moment as his arms shifted, cradling the rifle carefully. His right hand extended forward, bracing the underbelly of the rifle at its exact center. His left hand cupped the trigger and part of the weapon’s stock. His right elbow braced against his chest, his left sat just atop his raised knee. He sat in that balled up position, still as stone, and breathed slowly. The sight of the Assassin take the different stance made the man in black’s smile fade, and a few members of the crowd began to shout angrily.

“Hey! He can’t do that!”
“That’s cheating!”
“I had to lay down, why doesn’t he have to?!”

Other players looked on in silence. Saber ignored them, his mind slowly growing blank. He focused, taking in one breath after another. Slow, steady… He relaxed his body and slowed his heartbeat. Each breath was purposeful and careful, long and deep as he inhaled long enough to fill his longs. After each deep intake of oxygen, he held the pressure of his chest and counted to four. One second made his vision stir, the second make his throat clot, the third made his brain pause, and the forth made his chest whine. But then he let it go, releasing all of the stored up excess and the left overs of his body’s operations. Then, he repeated the process. Deep inhale, hold, count to four, exhale slow… The repeated motion cleared his mind and relaxed his body. He had been riled up because of the crowd and because of the scene before, but now he needed to slow down. As a child, Saber’s father used to strike him when they were hunting. It wasn’t for him being hasty or for him making mistakes, but it was for him not calming down.

“They can sense your anxiety…” He would tell Saber, the words being whispers as the older man leaned over Saber’s shoulder. The massive hands of a man who had worked hard for all of his life cupped Saber’s six year old ones and held them softly on the bow the young child was holding. The older man would breathe heavily, loudly, and cause Saber to echo his movement.

“You must relax. Slow your breathing, control it. Once you can control your own body, then you can learn to control the world around you…” The older man held Saber’s hands lightly, his muscles flexing with restraint as he guided Saber along the process.

“Take a deep breath in…” Saber inhaled on command, and gently pulled back on the bowstring, drawing the arrow back. The bow itself would strain and crackle, the noise of the bow adding more and more pressure filling Saber’s ears the further the arrow was pulled. His breathing would be as deep as the bow could be pulled; four seconds. In four seconds, Saber would pull back the bowstring and line up his target. That’s all the time his father gave him. Too little and Saber was too quick; the prey would sense him and flee. Too slow and Saber would be too late; the prey would move, or Saber would be unable to steady his shot to the best of his ability.

“Focus. Forget about everything around you. Ignore the trees, the snow, and even me…” His eyes slit and the Assassin held his bow tight, his eyes pinning his distant target to the back drop. When he first learned to use a weapon, it was winter. In Alaska where they lived, the winters were cold and harsh. Snow and heavy winds were a constant enemy to the hunters, as was the lack of light. It was difficult to see over a distance, especially in a forest where Saber and his father generally hunted.

“Release your breath… Steady your shot one more time…” After holding his breath for far too long, Saber exhaled. His heart throbbed and his muscles released the unneeded leftovers, spurting it all out in front of the young boy in the form of a mist. His arms began to float a little in front of him, his muscles tiring from the stress of the bow string wanting to return to its point of rest and least resistance.

“Now breathe in…” Saber listened to his father and breathed in deep, his bow steadying itself once more. As he took in his breath, the world around him went quiet. His prey, a small white rabbit, nibbled at a piece of food as it sat atop a small tree root. The arrowhead of the young man leveled on the Rabbit’s head. Then, a small gust of wind blew through the space between the two beings. Saber instinctively shifted his bow to the right, pointing the arrow into the wind to compensate just as his father had always done.

“…Now exhale and release.” Suddenly, his father’s voice pierced the air. In response to the command, Saber’s fingers opened and the arrow was fired out into the air. A few seconds later, a loud squeak filled the air. His arrow stabbed into the rabbit’s neck, cutting the airflow and killing the creature. One of his father’s heavy hands fell on top of his head as the rabbit tipped forward and fell off the tree root, lifeless.

“Good job, son.”

Now, in the game, Saber had a different target. This one was not a rabbit and it would not be his next meal, but it had just as high of a value. The bullseye in the distance didn’t mean life or death. Instead, that target stood between Saber and his goal; to show that nothing was impossible, that this game could be beat. The world he lived in was unkind and nothing in it worked to aid the Adventurers in their travels. Everything was calculated to ultimately end with the Adventurer’s death. Every monster, every quest, and even every Lander was ultimately programmed to lead the Adventurer’s to their ends. Even the players’ skills were tuned to make the Adventurer’s weak. Their cast times calculated to keep a player from instantly activating a skill. The glowing activation effects were there to show enemies that a player was performing an action. Cooldown timers were set to make players wait for their skills to reset, leaving them open to attacks should they use their tools unwisely. Saber knew this, and he had seen the game work firsthand. He had seen it kill other players and even try to kill him, yet he resisted. He fought with all of his might to deny this game its wish to end him and now he stood at the top of the pyramid; not a single death stuck to his name. Deep in the coding of the game, his death counter remained at a solid, defiant zero. He was a renegade in this world, a renegade for life.

And once more, his reputation was being called to the plate. The odds were once again stacked in such a way that he was not meant to succeed; he was set up to fail. However, he would bend the rules and play the game into his favor. By choosing the third rifle, he stepped out of the normal forked route. He elected the path less traveled. By kneeling instead of laying, he positioned himself on a higher road, one where he could see further and see clearer. By training, fighting, and watching, Saber learned the path to victory and could see it clear as day. Now, he just needed to proceed without falling off his path. He needed to relax, he needed to focus. Saber needed to breathe.

Inhale… The Assassin’s chest rose and he filled his chest cavity with oxygen, taking in the clean air as he began to tune out the world around him. His eyes narrowed on the target ahead of him. His vision blurred for a moment, but then his mind cleared. His arms tensed and the end of his barrel stopped swaying.

Steady… The barrel remained still, the world went quiet, and his finger descended from the side of the rifle into the trigger’s cradle. Gently, the space just beneath his index finger’s tip slid against the trigger, pulling on it just enough where the tension could rise. The weapon did not fire, but it primed. Inside the weapon’s breach, the firing mechanism turned ever so slightly, the spring just a fraction of an inch away from being released.

Exhale… As his lips parted just a hair, the Assassin pulled on the trigger. The movement was slight. It was so slight that his finger barely moved as he pulled, but the ignition was the same. The spring was released and expanded with a loud crack, accelerating forward. It slammed against the back of the breach and a rush of air slammed into the back of the cork. In a split second, the cork was launched into the air and hurdled down range. The cork spiraled slightly, the rotation caused by the hidden rifling of the barrel’s walls, and allowed the object to keep its trajectory. It dropped slightly, but the drop had been compensated for. As he aligned his shot, Saber raised his barrel’s end by just a tad, adjusting for gravity ultimately pulling down on his shot. He also turned the barrel a little to the left, as the air flowed from left to right inside of the stall. The adjustments, his stance, his breathing and even his gentle pull of the trigger were all variables of a formula; the formula of hitting the target. They were all turned from letters to numbers, added up, divided, multiplied, and ultimately compressed into the form of a visual answer; a light tapping noise.

The snap of the rifle was followed by the sound of a thud, and then silence. For a moment, the stall and the area surrounding it seemed to freeze. The marksman relaxed, lowering his rifle and his left knee as he moved out of the balled up position he was in. His eyes opened and he took in a few slow and deep breathes. The cork he had fired dropped to the floor, falling from the air with an quiet clattering sound. The man frowned; he missed. His shot tucked to the right at the last moment, caught by a breeze at the other end of the stall. Just after he shot, and after the cork was taken by the wind, Saber felt it against his cheek. So, that was the final trick…

The stall was positioned in such a way that the back of the little tent was closer to where the wind would come from during the day, causing a split second of natural “lag” between when the wind would hit the rear shelf and when the wind would touch the player, telling them that they would need to adjust further. At first, Saber had not considered such a thing. He had thought he had noticed every little detail about the tent before, but now he saw that he was wrong. Yet, it was enough. The man in black looked at him with a hard glare and his smile was gone. Saber’s shot was off by barely an inch and he nearly grazed the bullseye. A little more to the left and he would have struck the white outer rim of the square.

“Hah! He missed!” A person chimed in, but was immediately hushed by another person. Well, a few people actually. Saber paid him no heed and focused once more. His first shot was a test shot, and now he had a bit more information about his environment. The game was a simple one, and he knew he would never have every potential condition under wraps. However, something as simple as the wind? It made his face flush with a bit of anger as he learned of his mistake. It was a pitiful excuse and one he should have expected.

Even so, Saber pulled back the breach on his rifle by twisting the bolt up and then sliding it back. The bolt clicked, locking itself into place as the spring was restrained by the internal mechanism. With his weapon primed, the Assassin leaned to his right and grabbed another round, another bullet cork. He twirled it slightly in his hand to check its balance, ensuring it was also fresh with a gentle squeeze. After checking his round, making sure that it was finely crafted and that it wasn’t overused like the others, Saber tipped the front of his bullet cork into the breach and slid it down inside. The cork was cradled gently by the metal and sat down comfortably where Saber had placed it. Then, the Assassin hooked his thumb on the bolt and pushed the slide closed. The breach clicked once again, locking itself in place, and the Assassin dropped it into a small slit to ensure it didn’t open and snap back at him on its own.

With his weapon primed and loaded, Saber took his stance once more. He positioned his right leg underneath him, his toes digging into the ground as his heel stuck up into the air, and sat down confidently on his ankle and calf. His left foot planted itself firmly down beside his right shin and his left knee stuck straight up into the air. The Assassin’s back curved so that he didn’t squeeze his lungs and his left elbow dug into his left thigh. The right hand of the shooter held the center of the rifle, leveling it out in the air in front of him. The left hand of the man cupped the stock, his index finger extending and resting against the side of the rifle. He huffed, the curt breath taking all of his anger and annoyance surrounding his previous shot with it. The past was the past. Saber was now on his second shot; he had no more to waste.

The end of the barrel leveled on the distant target of choice, the iron sights swaying in a tight pattern as Saber breathed and his body moved due to gravity, air, and fatigue. He took in a sharp breath, leveled, and released the tension in his body. His exhale was long and slow, purposefully draining his lungs of almost their entire capacity. He inhaled right after, breathing deep and sucking in as much oxygen as possible. His mind began to clear, but it wasn’t enough so he released once more. Another exhale, another long string of hot air escaped Saber’s lips as he breathed the wasted air back out into the game. Then, he relaxed. His body stilled and the noise of the festival faded. The man in the corner of his eyes became a shadow of his imagination, the lights and flashing signs around the stall dimmed. The only item in focus was the shooter’s target. He inhaled. Oxygen filled his lungs. His rifle steadied. He started to count to four. His left index finger slid down onto the trigger, pulling on it very softly. The release mechanism inside the rifle twisted slightly, but the spring remained still.

Exhale… The trigger collapsed, the spring was released, air filled the barrel chamber, and the cork was shot down range.

Saber’s chest collapsed and he let out all of the air he had stored up. As he did so, he gave the trigger of his rifle a soft squeeze and braced. It kicked hard against his shoulder, smacking against the firm wall of Saber’s body. The spring released and cracked loudly in the man’s ear once more as it shoved the air, and ultimately the cork, down the rifled barrel. The cork appeared at the other end of the weapon and began to sail through the air, spiraling wickedly because of the barrel’s rifling. It was aimed to the left of the target and up into the air, compensating for wind and gravity. As the cork traveled, it dropped downwards because of one of the variables and began to drift to the right because of the other. However, unlike the first shot, this one struck with a loud puffing sound. It was almost mute, but the silence surrounding the stall allowed it to be heard.

Saber hit the plush toy beside the bullseye. His cork spearheading the toy with in its core and dropped right between the little creature’s legs. It tapped on the shelf and landed on its side, rolling slowly to the left until it hit the plushie’s right leg and stopped. The Assassin lowered his rifle and wiggled his nose slightly beneath his mask, staring forward to confirm his shot. Once he did so, he looked to the man in black. The man stared towards the plushie, speechless as he saw the cork sitting where it was, as if he had just seen some sort of miracle occur. Saber huffed and hooked his right index finger on the rifle’s bolt, flicking it up to release it from the notch and then pulled it back. The breach slid open and the spring locked in place in its compressed position. The sound of the breach moving caused the man in black to snap free from his daze and he turned to look at the Assassin. The man’s lips were pulled into a tight line and his eyes showed the emotion of amazement. It was as if he never expected anyone to come close to hitting any of the targets in the first place. He probably had never expected an actual living marksman to show up at his stall. Saber wasn’t a rifle user in the game, but his class granted him the capabilities to use firearms. Mix that with his real training with hunting weapons of all kinds and Saber was a versatile soldier, one who could have joined the real world military without any questions. Now that he was in a game world where everything was an algorithm or a program, predicting it and adapting was easy. The real world was much more random and inconsistent, and a lot more fun. This place was just sucking Saber’s life force right out of him because of how simple it was.

“…Well done.” The man in black said aloud as he reached over to his chalkboard. He marked down a small letter, the letter ‘P’ as well as the number fifty beside it; Saber could chose a plushie as a prize and had fifty points to spare. That was enough for him to satisfy his little one, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy himself. Now that he knew he could hit something, that he could hit something on the last row, and that he could hit an object directly beside the bullseye and nearly strike the bullseye itself; Saber would not be content with just a minor conclusion. He thought it almost pathetic to even consider giving in now and passing up his remaining four shots. Sure, he had what he came for, but he was greedy. Saber didn’t just want to win and reach his goal; he wanted to bury his opponent beneath his heel and make them suffer. With that in mind, the Assassin reached down and plucked the next cork off the line.

Again, Saber dropped the bullet cork into the breach and nestled it in against the metal. His thumb hooked the bolt, rolled forward, and pushed the slide closed. The metal clicked and he dropped the bolt into the notch at the end of the metal. With his rifle primed once more, Saber tucked his right leg underneath his buttocks and sat back down, his left knee pointing up, his elbow resting on top of it, and his right arm providing support for his ranged weapon. The Assassin got comfortable and held his rifle tightly between his hands, the barrel of the rifle swaying slowly as it pointed directly at the bullseye. The Assassin made himself a little more comfortable by adjusting in his seated position, moving his right knee out slightly and his left knee in closer to his torso. Once he was set, he leaned his head against the stock of his weapon and focused on the target.

By using his first shot as a test, and his second shot as confirmation, the Assassin automatically began to adjust for the gravitational pull as well as the potential wind. The distance from where he sat to where the third row of items had been placed was approximately two or two and a half seconds of flight time. His first shot was aimed at the high left corner of the bullseye’s final red ring. That shot had coasted swiftly to the right and barely missed the target. Saber’s ultimate goal was the center of the target. If he could guess, the target was around six inches from left to right and eight inches from top to bottom. The red circles diameter was just underneath six inches, and it was a perfect circle. The center dot, visually, looked to be about two inches. With two seconds of distance and approximately two miles an hour of wind speed, gravity remaining a constant, Saber had all the information he needed. His rifle rose to the left, his sights just covering the top left corner of the target. Once he was set, the Assassin waited, he listened. The wind came through the stall lightly, flowing the same way a calm river did on a sunny day, and his eyes narrowed. It changed, so he adjusted. The rifle shifted a hair to the right and the Assassin waited.

What separated a marksman from a regular rifleman was his control over the elements, and his ability to adjust. Saber knew what he needed to account for and he knew how to do it. After watching and firing the weapon in his hands twice, he knew its strength and its capabilities. He knew the range it had, how long it would take before the cork veered off course, and the approximate weight of his round. Saber also knew the approximate distance, but in time not an actual distance measurement which was enough. He could feel the wind, see the stall’s cloth overhang flutter, and he could hear it whistle quietly. Shooting wasn’t about technique or about hitting the target. To Saber, it was about putting a shot into the wind and letting Mother Nature carry it to his target. Even back in the real world, Saber relied heavily on the grace of the world around him to grant him food. As a child when he hunted with his father, they carried all of the tools they needed and they had all of the knowledge they could get, but once they fired an arrow or fire a bullet; the rest was in the hands of the Gods. Every meal was a blessing, every shot was a miracle, but every miss was not seen as a mistake. No, it was seen as a sign.

“Let it go…” His father used to say after they missed. No matter what the target was or its condition, the Hunters missed for a reason. Should that ever happen, Saber was told to let the animal go free. The Gods had denied the pairing many kills, but Nature always provided for them. When they would miss a young and healthy Caribou, Nature would give them an old Moose with very little time left. When they would fail to bring down a black bear, Nature would give them a Bison. Saber complained about his failures when he was young, but as he learned, as he listened, and as he matured; he accepted the quiet whispers of his home and moved along without disturbing the animals further.

The world he lived in now was not as grateful, was not as kind. The wind was violent and sporadic, the animals did not give as much food, and their furs were close to useless. Saber couldn’t use their skeletons for any sort of tools and much of the meat on their bodies was deemed inedible by the system. In reality, Saber and his family would have used everything. Everything had its place and its use. Learning what it was and adapting was the trick to surviving. In his homeland, surviving meant doing everything he needed to do. Here, in this world, these people had it easy. They didn’t know what it meant to truly hunt to survive because the system did much of it for them, but for Saber, a hunter in his core; the system hindered him. It changed far too quickly for him to use his old skills and he was forced to adapt. Now, as he sat with a rifle squeezed against his shoulder, he had to be patient. The target in front of him was not moving but the world around it was spinning in an uncontrollable and unpredictable manner. The wind speed fluctuated strangely and there was almost no guessing when it would just stop or when it would pick up. Saber simply needed to guess.

Thankfully, today was a calm day and the wind was light. As Saber took in his slow, steady breaths, the wind did not fight him much. The stall did not tip over because of a gust but the cloth still fluttered, showing that the virtual world was still a threat. How much of a threat would be determined only when Saber squeezed the trigger, so he began to relax. His breathing slowed and deepened, his nose inhaling as much oxygen as it could as his body stilled. He let his mind clear and his eyes focus on the end of his barrel, his iron sights pinning the whitespace just to the top left of the bullseye itself. As a soft wind came through, the barrel drifted slightly to the left, but then back to the right as it died off. The sounds of the festival faded and the pressure of the crowd fell off his shoulders. Saber removed everything else in his sight except for his rifle, and the target.

He inhaled… His hands squeezed the rifle and his left finger slowly slid down into the trigger cradle. Once more, the space just beneath his fingertip caressed the trigger, gently sliding it back. His chest compressed and tension rose in it as his mind became clear.

Then, exhale… His lips parted slightly and air began to escape. As if he was breathing out his shot, Saber squeezed the trigger of his rifle. The trigger popped, the spring cracked, the cork shot out the other end of the barrel, and the stock kicked against the Assassin’s shoulder. He remained still, holding his rifle firmly as he watched his round travel. It happened in a blink...

One-thousand One… The cork is ejected from the barrel, spiraling out towards the upper left hand corner of the target. A light breeze trickles through the stall. By the end of the second, it passes by the first shelf and begins to cross over the second, avoiding all of the items on them. Gravity already has begun to pull on it, causing the tip of the bullet cork to tilt down towards the ground. Just before the next second, the wind strikes the left side of the round, pushing it softly to the right. It continues its path forward.

One-thousand Two… The cork passes over the second shelf, its new trajectory being outlined to the Marksman as it spirals downward. The wind continues to push, guiding the bullet along a skewed road as it seemingly slides to the right. Gravity pulls harder and harder on the cork as the tip tilts further and further down, but it isn’t enough. The pushing and pulling put the cork right on target…
Impact.

With a hard thud, the cork slams into the center of the two red rings and strikes the two inch wide red dot. The hard tip of the cork cracks the paint and bounces off the hard material of the target, pushing itself away and knocking the object out of its original position. The wind stops, gravity devours the cork as it falls to the ground, and the air falls silent. Saber’s exhale finishes and he lowers the rifle from his shoulder, his right hand sliding back to the bolt. He cups the bulged end of his bolt-lever, snaps it up with a loud click and then yanks back the slide, forcing the spring inside to compress and ready for another shot. The man in black stares silently at the target, his jaw slightly open as he remains speechless, his mind most likely attempting to wrap around the sight he had just been shown.

Bullseye.

Saber lowered his left knee and his rifle, dropping out of the slightly uncomfortable position as he took a few short breathes. He smirked and placed the stock of his tool into the dirt, holding it straight up and down as he watched the man to his left slowly looked over at him. Saber’s mouth shifted into a grin beneath his mask and his eyes closed a little, waiting for the man to make his next move. However, as expected, the man remained true to his word. He reached out to his chalkboard and drew a small circle on the black object, marking the symbol for a bullseye. Then, he sat up in his chair and looked towards Saber once more. The man’s smile was now gone and he seemed very disturbed. Saber pressed his nose against his scarf and looked towards the bullseye. Three shots had now gone down the range, one a dummy, two had hit their targets. Saber had won the plushie his little companion had wanted so the rest was now just fluff. He had also just struck the bullseye, giving him a free item in addition to the plushie and a total of one-hundred and fifty points. The largest prize, an oversized stuffed nine-tailed fox, was just fifty points away. Too easy.

One of the remaining six corks was nabbed up by the Assassin and he twirled it in his fingers. The crowd behind him was now quiet, looking on a mix of disbelief, respect, anger, and jealousy as the man took the game by the belt buckle. Now, they all knew he would just be toying around. Saber could reach out and touch the most difficult target on the board with ease and he had six shots left to fire off. Everything was fair game to him, a feat very few of the others could even get close to, and with two nails already in the coffin, Saber was going to keep playing. He was going to seal the box closed and end with his opponent groveling at his feet.

The fourth round dropped into the breach and Saber once more slipped his thumb around the metal knob that held the slide. With a hard shove forward, Saber slammed the bolt closed and notched the metal knob. His right hand reached forward and grasped the rifle in its center as his body lowered into its seated stance. The marksman bucked the butt of the rifle against his left shoulder, nestling it into the small hollowed out space there just above his collarbone. His left arm lay across his left knee and his hand cupped the base of the rifle by the trigger. His index finger extended and rested lightly against the wooden side of the toy weapon. His eyes narrowed on the distant target and he released a slow breath, letting the oxygen stored in his lung flow back out into the world, making space for his next clean inhale. The fresh breath filled his chest and his body tensed up. Blood throbbed in his veins as he held in the tension he felt, his mind slowly ticking up to four. Then, he released. A smooth exhale flowed through his lips and his chest collapsed. The air began to still and the noise became quiet. Saber’s eyes blurred out everything except for the bullseye and his body stilled much like a statue.

Then, he breathed in. His lungs steadily filled and he began to adjust his sights. The wind gently caressed his body, barely putting any kind of force on the Assassin and it lasted for only a second. Then, he faded. Almost as if some sort of shield was put up or the source of energy was cut off, the wind stopped and Saber slid his sights directly above the bullseye itself. Taking his chance, Saber exhaled and let his body relax. Once the old air was gone, he took in one last chest full of air and his eyes hardened. His left finger dropped to the trigger and squeezed it gently, ever so slightly adding pressure to the object so that the spring would begin to lean forward. Saber then held himself, waiting, steadying his aim until his hands suddenly stopped moving. At that exact moment, he squeezed the trigger and released his breath.

The stock of the rifle kicked against his shoulder as the spring shot forward, smashing into the breach and sending the cork down the barrel. The cork appeared a moment later and flew in a straight line across the stall, its body twisting and tilting steadily downwards. The rifling of the barrel kept the bullet flying straight in a stable manner, and gravity slowly pulled the tip of the cork down, causing it to arc ever so slightly. After two seconds, the cork slammed into the lower part of the red dot in the center of the red bullseye. Once more, the cork struck with a loud thud and bounced off the hardened object. The target was pushed back a little further from the impact force and the cork dropped to the ground, bouncing quietly through the grass a few times before finally coming to a halt.

Saber smirked, tilting his rifle down and dropping his left knee as he stared at the second small dot on the target. After a moment of satisfaction, the Assassin turned his eyes towards his score keeper. The man in black to the Assassin’s left let out a light rumble and didn’t even look at Saber before turning to his own side and marking another empty circle on the board. Two bullseye strikes and one hit on the large Kobold plushie; Saber had a grand total of two free prizes, a Kobold plushie, along with two-hundred fifty points to spend. In all, he had enough to get at least six prizes even if he elected to get three medium-sized plushies and the oversized one that was at the top of the prize pyramid. That was a fantastic thing to have known, if Saber even cared about prizes. He honestly didn’t. Saber simply wanted to get the plushie for his little one. Everything else on the board, to him, wasn’t even worth trying for. Many of the prizes were useless toys that would most likely break after a few uses, plush dolls, disgusting food items, or useless medals and accessories. Saber could make his own toys, had already won the only plush doll he needed, could buy food elsewhere, didn’t care for medals, and could make his own accessories. The prize list was mainly for players who were far too lazy to go out and level. For Saber, they were all pretty much useless. However, he did have an idea…

As he watched the man in black tally another bullseye, Saber reminded himself of the many other games in this festival. Many of them were just like this stall game; simple, straight forward, littered with hidden rules, and scales tipped against the player. If that were the case, than he would be worn out very quickly and would probably get extremely bored. Saber enjoyed a challenge here and there, but if every stall was like this one, he would grow tired of it all real quick. Hell, he would probably return to the Parliament Building and go back to paperwork. If he did that, he knew that his companion would be unhappy and he had no doubt that the little one would throw a fit or give him some unhappy look. The Assassin was mean and enjoyed his quiet time, but he wouldn’t ruin the little one’s fun. Besides, he had said that they would enjoy the festival, no?

“This will be enough.” So he would enjoy it, and if he didn’t, he would make sure his companion did. Saber reached down, snatched up one of the remaining corks, and tossed it up and down in the air a few times before looking over his shoulder towards the little silhouette girl he had left behind. She looked at him in awe, as if she had never expected shooting a rifle with such skill to from her Tamer. Saber sort of expected that, as she hadn’t exactly seen him fight or anything just yet. She had only seen him walk, talk, and handle situations without any sort of confrontation. She had also seen him deal with paperwork. Due to this new side of him to her, and upon seeing his eyes, she smiled sheepishly towards the man. The Assassin waved at her to approach him, but she didn’t move at first as if she was frightened of him. Saber made a grunt and waved a little harder; the motion finally registering in the little one’s mind that he wasn’t exactly playing coy. She nodded and squeezed Blumpy against her chest as she quickly trotted over to the Assassin. When she was close enough, Saber put his arm around the little ones back and used the hand on his rifle to point at the various items in the stall.

“Pick something out that you like.” Saber muttered softly, and his companion nodded lightly, her eyes shifting from him to the array of various objects and toys sitting on the shelves. As she looked, Saber watched her eyes shift from one thing to the next, the decisions and choices running through her mind almost subconsciously as her two eyes scanned the scene before her. But as she looked, Saber noticed that her eyes kept twitching back to something, something that she liked. Using her constant checking to guess the direction, Saber looked out to the items on the shelves and at the general location his little friend was looking towards. There were three items; a coconia shaped toy, a small dress image painted on a wood frame, and a case with a large necklace in it. Saber chuckled softly at the sight and turned his head back to his companion to see that she was now looking at him.

“Well? What would you like?” He could sort of guess what she wanted already, but Saber liked it better when she told him. Guessing what someone wanted in such a situation never ended with Saber in any kind of good spot. Even if he was right, he tended to get some evil stares or some kind of stupid remark back. Saber also wished to avoid his little one thinking that she was an open book. Knowing that she could be read easily and didn’t have to verbalize what she wanted could affect her mentally. It could make her expect others to know what she was thinking and she may stop talking completely, expecting Saber to read her mind. Or, she could get angry and try to castrate the Assassin with her control over vines. Either way, the outcome would be bad. The second one was much worse than the first, so Saber simply prompted the little girl to give him her own response.

“I… I wan…” She started to speak and glanced to her right towards all of the items, and the one she wanted. Yet, she held her tongue and looked down a little. Saber smiled softly beneath his scarf, the little one close enough to peer beneath the cloth object and see it. He softly rubbed her little back and nodded lightly, reminding her that he would not bite.

“May I have the heart-fruit plushie…?” Her mouth moved softly, her voice immediately being translated to something which Saber could understand. He smirked beneath his cloth scarf and nodded softly. His right hand raised and he softly rubbed his little one’s head, making her whimper at him as he performed the motion. Then, his hand pulled off and he smiled at her.

“Step back and I’ll win you the second plushie, okay?” The Assassin gripped his rifle tight with both hands and the little one smiled softly, her head shaking softly as she took a few steps away from her Tamer. Saber then turned his eyes back to the array of items, his eyes locking onto the Coconia Fruit plush toy on the second level and off to his left. It was blocked by a few others items but the shot was not impossible. Rather than crouch and attempt to thread some kind of needle, Saber rose up to his feet and pulled back the bolt on the rifle, yanking it until it clicked at him. Then, he dropped the next cork into the breach.

Once it was set in nice and tight, Saber pushed the slide closed and lifted the rifle up against his shoulder. He tucked the butt of the rifle into the little space above his collarbone and stuck his left elbow out, his hand cupping the trigger. His right hand made itself comfortable at the midway point of the rifle and he grasped the weapon firmly. It swayed slowly at first as he leveled the sights in the general area of the Coconia fruit. After putting his rifle in the general location of the plush, Saber began to center his eye. Slowly, the swaying tightened into a tighter circle. The longer Saber focused, the tighter that swaying became. His breathing was steady, his heartbeat slowed, and the man’s eyes narrowed. He took in a deep breath and his body’s movements came to a halt. He froze up like a statue, standing there as the wind softly tugged on his cloak. His rifle adjusted and his finger dropped onto the trigger. A moment later, he exhaled.

Saber’s finger pulled on the trigger gently once more and another loud crack echoed out into the air as the firing mechanism was put in motion again. The spring was released from its compressed positon and the cork shot down the barrel because of the sudden pressure shoving at it from behind. It spun through the grooves in the barrel and popped out in a hard spiral. It whisked through the air swiftly, barely being affected by either gravity or wind as it zoomed in on its target. Just as the light wind began to pick up, the tip of the cork struck the Coconia plush, hitting it in center mass. The material flexed hard beneath the pressure of the impact, but quickly pushed back against the cork and shoved the bullet-shaped object away. It fell out of the air, its job completed, and bounced around on the ground for a few seconds before finally rolling to a stop. Saber lowered his weapon and tilted the barrel end down towards the ground. He smirked beneath his scarf and looked over at the man in black, watching as the man did not hesitate to add the mark of a small fruit to the tally. Now, Saber had three hundred points, a kobold plushie, two free items, and a Coconia Fruit plushie; all rewards to his name.

With that final shot, and that final reward, Saber finally stood down. He released his left hand and let the rifle hang in his right hand. He set the stock down on the ground and let out a satisfied sigh, his eyes finally relaxed, his body following quickly after. The marksman had hit all of his targets and the remaining four shots were not worth taking. The man in black lowered his head, his smile completely wiped off that smug face of his. The impossible game had been beaten, Saber had earned the right to a few of the prizes he wanted, and he had shown the crowd behind him that the game was quite easy with practice and experience. Though, he doubted many of them had any of either, especially with a rifle. Saber did not doubt that someone in the game world was equal to him in skill, but that was a sight he had yet to see. Even now, as he lay the rifle down on the ground and stood up empty handed, he was quite sure that it would take only a high level player to perform the same actions he had just done. Would they need the same amount of experience with a rifle? It probably would not, as said experience just made things easier for Saber. He knew how to handle a rifle, knew what it took to compensate for wind and gravity, and was comfortable with pulling the trigger. Could some random person who was comfortable with the game walk up and strike the bullseye? Most definitely as it would come down to just aiming and shooting. The game was against the player in terms of rules and regulations, but after all was said and done; tipping things in one’s own favor was quite easy. For Saber, he hardly had to think about it to make winning easy.

“I’ll take my rewards, please. There is no point in me continuing.” The Assassin said aloud for the man in black to hear, and he finally smirked once again. The man responded with a curt nod and tapped the cage beneath him. Out from inside, the little Kobold popped out and darted out beneath the table. It quickly went for the five corks lying on the ground and scrounged them up swiftly as to get out of the way as soon as possible.

“What will your rewards be, Mr. Marksman? You will receive the Coconia Fruit plush toy and the Kobold plush toy because you hit them, but you have other rewards you may pick as we—.” The man in black picked up his small chalkboard and began to calculate the totals up for Saber, even though the Assassin knew what he would get and what he wanted. However, as he was speaking and reading, someone stepped forward from the crowd. This person’s face was bright red and his eyes were filled with a mix of anger and jealousy.

“You fire off five shots and then leave the other four like it’s nothing! How dare you insult everyone else! We tried hard for what we got, and you just walk up, take everything, and you don’t even finish!” The man barked, his left fist curling into a ball as his right index finger stabbed the air in the direction of the Assassin. Saber scoffed at the man and knelt down, snatching the old bolt action rifle off the ground. As he did so, he also keyed a skill; Arrow Revolver. The remaining four corks lifted up into the air and began to levitate around Saber. The Assassin stared towards the other player and pulled back the bolt on the rifle in his hands. As he did so, one of the corks automatically dropped into the slot and the Assassin pushed the slide closed. He didn’t break eye contact with the other player until the weapon was loaded. When it was, he turned to his right and faced the stall once more. He lifted the rifle back to his shoulder and sighted the closer targets. He had four shots and three targets he would shot; a set of ribbons, a small pocket watch, and a coin.

With the rifle’s stock pressed snuggly against his shoulder, the Assassin took in a short breath and his eyes narrowed. He turned to his left and planted the sights of the rifle on his first target. Quickly, his left index finger dropped onto the trigger and pulled on it softly. The sound of a snapping spring followed as Saber applied more pressure, releasing the spring, igniting the firing mechanism, and sending the cork into its short journey. The aged and abused rifle fired the fresh cork like it had just been created. The cork twirled briefly in the air and was never affected by gravity before its tip dug into the target; the coin. It was a small object held on a small stand, and the impact of the cork against its shining surface was enough to make the metallic object ping. Saber huffed out the rest of his short exhale and yanked the bolt back. The second cork dropped in, his Revolver spell working smoothly.

A hard push caused the bolt to slide closed against and Saber twisted to his right, his sights falling on his next target. His breathing slowed, his eyes narrowed, and the barrel of his weapon steadied. Saber inhaled deep and slow, his left finger dropping onto the trigger to give it a soft kiss and squeeze. Once his weapon stopped its light twirling, he pulled with great care. The butt of the rifle kicked once more and the spring snapped loudly again, firing the cork back into the air. It zipped forward, ripping through the air like a homing missile before striking the next target. It slammed into the case of the small pocket watch with a resonating smack. Before the cork even hit the floor after contacting the item, Saber pulled back the bolt of the rifle and dropped his third round into the breach. As the second cork touched the floor, Saber’s right hand slammed the slide closed and he aimed at the third target.

A short breath, a gentle squeeze, and a riveting bang fired the third bullet cork into the air. It was sent forward with a thunderous crack and spiraled through the air beautifully. A second after Saber pulled his trigger, the tip of the cork reached the set of ribbons. The round whisked through the set of vibrantly colored objects and flew down into the dirt beyond. Saber released a huffed and pulled back on the bolt once more, priming the spring again as the fourth and final cork dropped into the metal cradle. Saber’s eyes narrowed hard and he slammed the knob forward, sealing the last round into the barrel. He raised the end of his weapon and sighted on his final target. He inhaled, checked the wind against his fingers and his face, and adjusted. He raised his rifle slightly to account for gravity, and then lowered his left index finger to the trigger. First, he squeezed lightly; the spring primed. Once he was set and the wind was steady, Saber exhaled. His finger tugged lightly on the trigger and released the spring. It smacked against the back of the breach and launched the cork down the barrel. Once it was gone, Saber twirled the rifle around his right hand and then nabbed it by the stock, his right index finger latching onto the trigger. As he caught the weapon, Saber’s feet twisted and he shoved the barrel in the face of the player who had dared defy him. Not a second later, the cork tapped the bullseye on the other side of the stall. The third hit struck the hard object directly in its center and pushed it the rest of the way off the shelf. The small piece of hardened material dropped to the ground, the ninth cork replacing it on the third shelf.

Saber glared at the other player, his hand clutching the old rifle tight as he stared down the man. The other player was barely level twenty, eighteen to be exact, and his gear looked as if it was on the verge of falling apart. If Saber had to guess, this new face had been through far too much to even be concerned over. His gear was pretty much in pieces so he had to have taken a lot of damage, was poor, and probably had died a few times. The Assassin did not know the reasons behind the man’s wears or his story, but Saber wouldn’t allow the puny man to tell him anything about how to live, or how to play a game. The player seemed to at least understand his mistake, as the sight of the quick actions and the accuracy caused the man to back off. Saber watched the player raise his hands and step back. Saber could have asked for an apology, but knowing the man had nearly wet himself was good enough. Once he had backed up enough, Saber lowered the rifle he held and set it down on the floor.

“Well, now you have even more prizes to choose from.” The man in black began to laugh as he tallied up everything Saber had hit. In the short burst, Saber had gained the rights of three more items, one free item, and one-hundred-thirty points; the ribbons, watch, and coin were all worth ten points each. Saber let out a heavy sigh and tallied everything together. Now, he had two plushies (the coconia fruit and the Kobold), a watch, a set of ribbons, a coin, three free items, and four-hundred-thirty points to spare. Ultimately, he had enough to wipe the man in black clean if he wanted to be super-greedy. Thankfully Saber was more humble of a man. He knew what he wanted and knew what he needed. What he wanted was not everything in the stall, and what he needed was just a handful of the prizes.

“I’ll take the Kobold and the Coconia plush first, mark those off and pass them.” Saber would take this one item at a time, simply so that he could mentally keep track of things. The two plushies were his freebies, and he wanted to give his little one something to hold on to. They were hers anyways. The man in black agreed with the steady pace and his Kobold went into a small chest behind the man, digging inside the container for a few moments before popping out with the two plushies. The Kobold plushie was just as large as the little creature and it seemed slightly disturbed by the sight, but moved along anyways. It hobbled over to the Assassin, careful not to trip as it navigated through the small mess of corks and rifles. Once he was close enough though, Saber helped the helper by reaching forward and taking the items. Once he had them in his hands, Saber passed the Kobold fruit plush to his little one. She let out a happy squeal and hugged it tight, mushing poor Blumpy with the little thing in the process. The pumpkin let out a loud whine and weaseled its way free of the Ripper Jack’s grip, escaping to the safety of Saber’s shoulder instead. Saber deposited the other plushie, the Coconia Fruit plush, into his inventory for her to play with later.

“Next?” The man in black crossed off the two items on his scoreboard, keeping track of things on his end as well. Saber nodded and pointed at the ribbon, the watch, and the coin. The Kobold nodded and hopped back over to the chest, tipping back over the edge as it began to dig once more. It rumbled and let out some disgruntled noises as it clawed around inside of the little object. Then, there was a loud bang. The Kobold paused for a moment. Saber stared at the creature, and the man in black looked over his shoulder towards his assistant. Though, the Kobold never leaned away from the chest. It simply stared at whatever object had made the noise, let out a huff, and then continued to dig some more. Finally, after a few moments, another loud bang, and the sound of a squeak toy, the Kobold pulled its head out of the chest with three objects cradled in its arms; a watch, a colorful set of ribbons, and a shiny coin. The Kobold waddled on over to Saber with all of the items and the Assassin took them one by one, passing them all into his inventory. As the items were passed, the man in black crossed them all off the list. Once the items had been passed, Saber was left with three-hundred and fifty points. And what does one do with all of those points? Very easy.

“I’ll take the big fox plushie please.” Buy the biggest prize out of the entire lot. Of course, the Kobold let out a huff and glanced over its shoulder towards the man in black, who nodded his head in acceptance. Saber had the points to spend and he had obviously played the game without cheating, so he deserved his toy. Now, would he actually keep the thing? Probably not, as Saber knew several people who would enjoy an oversized, four-foot tall fox plush toy more than him. Well, he could almost bet that any woman who liked cute things would enjoy it and any guy with a girlfriend could use it as a Valentine’s Day gift. Hell, Saber could probably use it as a trophy if need be just to say he beat the rifle game. There were so many uses he could get out of the oversized stuffed thing that he would have been stupid not to get it. Plus, he had the points so why the hell not? Everything else on the reward board was junk, close to junk, or would soon become junk.

“That leaves you with two-hundred thirty points.” The man in black swiftly did the obvious math and subtracted two-hundred points from his four-hundred thirty points. At the same time, the Kobold popped out of the chest with the oversized collection of plush, fur, and whatever else was the material put into the toy. It was very nicely made, surprisingly, and Saber was quite content with the object he was presented with. He didn’t dare question it or try to contend for a better one, because the one the Kobold held out to him was probably the only one the stall owner had in the first place. To be honest, Saber was quite surprised he had one at all.

The game was so rigged against the player that he would not have doubted if the man in black didn’t have any of the plushies at all. Of course, Saber would not argue or laugh or say anything. He simply accepted the item the Kobold helper held out to him and deposited it into the abyss for future use, sellage, gifting, or whatever he would eventually decide to do with the thing. However, now that he had the biggest trophy in the books, the Assassin’s eyes fell on the remaining choices in a very bored manner. He rumbled and his eyes gazed upon the various different items he could pick from, but he remained mainly quiet. He had an idea for something in his mind that he could do to try and take away from the stalls and potentially add to the event itself, one that had just cropped into his mind a few moments prior, but it would take some time to prepare. In addition, he needed things. Like ribbons.

“There’s five ribbons per reward, right? I think the Kobold gave me five…” Saber pointed at the ribbons as he asked his question. He should have counted when he was first handed the objects, but the Valentine’s Day colored ribbons were just far too bright and frilly that he couldn’t stand looking at them for too long. That was probably a bad thing, as he really should have checked the amount.

“That is correct. Each set contains five ribbons of various shades of red and pink.” The man in black’s answer was what Saber expected, and the Assassin’s nose wiggled again. At ten points per pack of five, Saber figured he should get a few. He had five ribbons already. Three more sets would make twenty ribbons total and he would be left with two-hundred points; good enough. Two-hundred was a much more even number.

“I’ll take three more.” Saber looked down at the Kobold as he gave his answer and the little creature nodded, Saber’s passive skill allowing for a smooth translation of words. The little creature hobbled back to the chest and Saber scanned the items available to him once more. Though, he very quickly lost interest. He had primarily what he needed with just the ribbons, the plushies, and the two other junk items he would attempt to find some kind of use for later. What was even better was the fact that Saber doubted the watch he was given worked. It seemed like far too technical of an object for the world. It not working and being just a display item, or more specifically a paper weight, would not surprise Saber.

“I’ll take the rest in Coconia Fruits.” The words made the Kobold pause, and it popped out of the chest to look over at Saber in shock. The man in black dropped his chalk and stared at the Assassin also, both of them casting blank stares towards the higher level player. Saber looked at the two of them as they stared at him and simply shrugged. He honestly didn’t care for the rest of the stuff and the Coconia Fruits could be used for food later on. He could store them away into his inventory and munch on them later if he needed. He could also use them for alchemy or making up some kind of new food item if he decided to. At five points each, Saber was quite content with his buy. The Kobold, on the other hand, probably didn’t like it. Two-hundred divided by five was forty; Saber was going to get forty Coconia Fruits out of the stall and he had not paid a dime. It was a good deal, for Saber at least.

“…F…Forty… Coconia Fruits…” The man in black picked up his piece of chalk and slowly subtracted two-hundred from two-hundred, equaling zero. The Kobold let out a heavy whine as it pulled the ribbons out of the chest. The loud and obnoxious noise was swiftly followed by a heavy fist smacking the side of the chest. The man in black hissed at his assistant and caused the little creature to quiet down.

“Don’t you complain! Get this man his fruit!” The man barked, causing the Kobold to hang its head. The little creature sulked over to Saber, passing the player his reward of ribbons, and then walked around behind the chest. There, a stack of three crates set. The Kobold popped open the first one in line to reveal the dozens of fruits housed within. He huffed and pulled up another small crate. With the crate set up, he began to count. One Coconia Fruit after another was dropped into the crate and Saber quietly counted each one that dropped inside. The first batch was ten, and the Kobold stopped counting so that he could bring the ten fruits over to the Assassin. Very quickly, Saber deposited the initial ten into his inventory and then waited at the Kobold went back for more. As it did, the little companion Saber had standing to his right tugged gently on his cloak. The man glanced down at her and then behind him as she pointed nervously to his rear.

Standing there, with arms folded and angry eyes, was the next set of customers wanting to play at the stall. Oh, right, he was standing in the way, wasn’t he? Saber’s lips pulled into a line and the man moved out of the way, taking the rifle which was in better condition with him. He passed the rifle back to the man in black and then walked behind him to the Coconia Fruit crates. The man invited the little companion to sit down beside him and she did so without much protest, but she did hop a little closer to Saber once she was comfortable. As the next two players started their rounds, Saber began to deposit the second set of Coconia fruits into his inventory as the Kobold finished counting the next ten. As he did so, the man in black let out a soft, curt laugh.

“You’re the second Adventurer to ever hit the bullseye.” The man in black said quietly to Saber. The Assassin’s ears perked up at the sound of the word ‘second’ and he glanced over to the mysteriously robbed stall owner. Well, that was a surprise. Most of the players Saber had met so far had issues with the game’s mechanics and he doubted any of them could hold a rifle well enough to actually hit a target as small as the bullseye was, especially at that distance. He also doubted half of the players in the world had a brain, but that was beside the point.

“Second?” He decided to step into the room the mysterious man had opened up to him, and snagged the bait with both hands. To his surprise, the man simply nodded initially. There was no laugh, no chuckling, and no rebuttal; just a quiet shake of the head was all Saber was first given.

“She was a cute little thing and I was quite surprised when she appeared. She did the same things you did. She showed up, dragged in by one of her friends, and scoffed at the other people who played. After getting tired and bored, she walked up and said very boldly… ‘You guys are all idiots! Let me show you how it’s done!’” As the man spoke, Saber’s nose wiggled and he began to wonder. What kind of woman was that..? And where was she? If such a woman existed, Saber wanted to meet her. She seemed like the bold type, but also the type that backed up their words. During her time at the stall, she had not only called the others lesser mortals but she had also hit the bullseye. Though, Saber didn’t exactly want to meet her to become friends with her. No, he simply wished to see what another strong Adventurer looked like… If she was strong and not just a good shot, that was.

“Oh…?” Saber put out his own bait with his meek response and looked down to see the Kobold presenting him with another set of Coconia Fruits. The Assassin leaned down and began to send them away into his inventory once more, letting the number stack up inside of his distant storage space on some server somewhere, if there were servers taking all of the data in that was. As he finished, Saber mentally took note that he now had thirty Coconia Fruits in his inventory.

“Aye. A couple of the men laughed at her, but then she pointed at my own rifle here.” The man pointed at the rifle Saber had used to also hit the bullseye; the rifle which had very little wear and tear on its outer shell. It was extremely close to looking like brand new, but there were a few scuff marks and usage marks around the bolt. Though, the marks were hard to see without close examination.

“I had just got the thing crafted, so I was hesitant. I even told her no, but then she said that I had not stated that it was not against the rules to use the rifle. Of course, I bit my tongue and passed it over to her along with the fresher set of corks. She grinned at me and from there… well… the rest is history.” A laugh escaped the man in black as the sound of a cork striking metal sounded off through the stall. The mysterious man reached over to his chalkboard and marked the letter ‘C’ onto it, symbolizing that the coin had been struck by one of the other players. The player who had struck gold, figuratively, smirked. The other, who had missed every shot so far, grumbled and sneered.

“How many times did she hit?” Saber glanced down towards his little Ripper Jack and watched as she played with her new toy. She had her legs crossed in front of her with the Kobold plushie sat down within her arm’s reach. It faced her with that strange smile and weird eye glow, but it didn’t seem to bother the little one. She hummed and wiggled the plushie’s arms, most likely imagining that the two were dancing or something. Saber smiled and left her be. The man in black let out an annoyed huffing sound as he watched the players finish up their shots.

“She did pretty much what you did. She shot the bullseye enough to knock it down, and then shot at the actual prizes that she wanted. Once she had those, she took the rest in Coconia Fruits.” Saber listened quietly as the man spoke, and Saber’s eyes narrowed a little as he did so. There was a woman around who had the same observational skills and shooting ability; which meant that she was also a hunter. The thought of there being someone else like that nearby made Saber quite surprised, and his nose wiggled at the thought of meeting her. Then again, Londonium was a large place. Even if he knew what she looked like, he doubted he would ever be able to find the woman in such an area. If her personality was what Saber assumed it was, she would leave a trail behind her.

“Do you know what she looked like?” The question made the man in black glance over at Saber, but the Assassin’s own attention was snagged once more by the Kobold as he was presented with the fourth and final set of Coconia Fruits. As Saber cast the fruits into the Abyss, the Kobold let out a happy sigh. His job was done, for now, and the heavy lifting was over. The chance of another player rattling off so many bullseyes and asking for such a high number of Coconia fruits was slim, so the Kobold’s weary arms would be able to rest now. At least, they could until the next rewards had to be given out. So, as Saber took the last fruit, the Kobold placed down the empty crate and plopped down onto the ground to Saber’s left, leaning back against the same crate comfortably. The creature closed its eyes and sighed long and quietly, his stress being replaced with relief. Saber smirked at the sight and looked over towards the man in black who was also watching his assistant. After a moment, the man looked up towards Saber. His eyes glowed a hot yellow and his lips pulled into a thin smirk, a canine appearing out from underneath the pink flesh.

“She was tall, had pale white skin like snow, and her hair was even whiter. It was quite obvious that whatever dye she used removed all pigmentation in her hair. Her eyes were a blazing red, and she had quite the pretty figure. She was slender but extremely feminine in her two prime areas… if you catch my drift… She wore eastern clothing and carried a set of swords on her waist; katanas, three of them to be exact. They each had various designs on their sheaths and their hilts were a mix of black cloth with gold underlay. Because of the festival, I can only assume that her dress was ceremonial. It didn’t look very useful in combat but her heels looked very comfortable to move in.” The description reminded Saber of one person, someone he had met a very, very long time ago. Someone who he had met before the update even happened. Back then, she still had the same hair, the same eyes. It was her trademark of sorts. Pure white snow for her hair color, hot fiery eyes, and extremely pale skin. Her class? She used a combination. Her choices were Swashbuckler, or Samurai depending on the day as she was very quick in leveling both classes. Though, her primary class was Samurai. Her supporting skills were Chef and Animal Tamer, and her companions were always extremely high classed beasts. Not a single one of those beasts would have any difficulty handling at least one Adventurer on its own without assistance. If it was the same woman Saber knew, then she also would most likely have her own small gathering of players under her wing… And there was no doubt in Saber’s mind that they were all strong in their own right. The Assassin smirked.

“What color was her dress…?” If it was a combination of three colors, than Saber knew exactly who he was dealing with or at least he had a general idea of who it may be. If he was right and it was her, then he knew where to find her and how to do so, but was he ready? Saber had forgotten who she was and had been getting a few nightmares recently about some woman with white hair leaving him. Slowly, his memories were returning. Two days prior, he was able to remember that pale face, but he was still having trouble with her name. But, he knew full well that this person was tough. She had been there when Saber was on the Japanese server, and she was there during many of his raids back then. Finding this woman was once an objective for Saber, until he had given up. This may be his chance to actually finish the job.

“It was a strange mix of colors, but a basic design. Flowers decorated her dress. Those flowers were pink on the leaves and had white cores. The backdrop was a shimmering shade of purple, like glitter.” As the man in black spoke and finished his description of the female’s dress, Saber’s smirk transformed into a wide smile. So, she was back. Or, Saber had finally found her. His hands squeezed into fists on his biceps and the Assassin let out a quiet huff. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, resting back against the crates as he began to play his own version of connect the dots. It was a simple game, but one he did even during combat to ensure he hadn’t missed any details.

Some time ago before Saber arrived on the scene; a woman dressed in an eastern style approached the firing stand. She walked up and watched several players attempt to play the game in the only way they knew; choose one of the two rifles and fire at the targets. She watched for a long time, seeing one player after another walk up and fail. Some hit the smaller targets, but any attempts to hit the bullseye were futile. A crowd begins to grow as more and more players try their hands at the daring task of hitting the bullseye. Finally, she gets sick of waiting and watching. Seeing no one good enough, the woman takes a step forward and shouts loudly at the crowd, gaining all of their attention. Next, she approached the stand and challenges the owner. She defies the previous rules by using the man’s word against him and gains the right to use the owner’s newest rifle, as well as the new set of cork ammunition. Armed with those, she lays down and gets herself comfortable, her dress covering her body beautifully and her hair flowing over her shoulders. She takes aim, takes a breath, relaxes. The wolf in sheeps clothing makes its appearance as she squeezes the trigger, the first round pelting the bullseye. Swiftly, she reloads. Again, she fires, and then once more, loading corks in between shots. The two hits both strike home and the distant target is shoved off the shelf. With three shots spent and nine remaining, the woman selects her next targets and unloads. Every shot is a strike, and each shot adds to her tally. Unlike Saber, all she asks for is the fox tail plushie. Then, she leaves. Without a word, she walks away with a smile, leaving the stall behind. The crowd is left in awe for a few moments, but business continues as others attempt to try to replicate what the woman did. It was then that Saber appeared…

The time it took for Saber to show up after she left was unknown, but she was at the stall. That simply fact was enough for Saber’s hair to rise on his skin. She was here, the woman he had hunted for weeks back when he just started on the new server. As expected, she was a fierce player just like he was, and she was extremely strong. Her capabilities as a shooter even without assistance from the system proved that to Saber. When he knelt down with the rifle, Saber was easily able to match himself to the rifle not just because of his experience, but because the game let him. He didn’t suffer any detrimental effects when holding it and was quite comfortable wielding the weapon. This woman, on the other hand, was a Swashbuckler or a Samurai. Both would have issues with firearms… Wait! No! Samurai had the capability to wield long-range weapons just as easily as the Assassin could! If she was armed with Katanas and the eastern wardrobe, then the woman had to have been a Samurai, or at least someone who knew a lot about the east.

“So, she’s still playing…” Saber let out his words in a whisper. The man in black glanced over at him, his eyes being peeled away from the next two players who stepped up to his challenge. He welcomed them with his sly smile and a curt nod, but said nothing; the two did not ask about how to play his game so he had no reason to speak. They were far to engrossed in their own conversation anyways, and the man in black was more interested in Saber’s words.

“Your questions seem quite focused, Adventurer. May I ask why?” The man looked over with his sharp eyes, but Saber only shook his head. The man was smart, but Saber would not reveal information so readily. He especially wouldn’t say that he knew the woman. Connecting the dots was still difficult. Saber didn’t have the before or after, he only had the first cluster in the picture and he had a lot more to go. With that in mind, the Assassin pushed off the crate he leaned against and stood upright.

“I thank you for the talk and the information, but it’s time for me to leave. I have someone I need to find.” Saber reached down and tapped his companion softly on her shoulder to get her attention. When she looked up towards him, he motioned for her to get up onto her feet. The man in black let out a soft sigh and the Kobold rumbled as he was forced to start digging for more prizes; the players hit something. Saber moved out of the way of the little Assistant and looked down towards the man in black.

“That woman is someone I have to find. Thank you again, and thank you for the prizes. Good day, sir.” Saber nudged his little companion forward and began to walk, but the man in black would not let him go without a word. A little advise, perhaps?

“Adventurer…” The man in black spoke aloud, causing Saber to pause. The Assassin glanced over his shoulder towards the other man, and he could see the fangs stick out once more. So, that was his race… wasn’t it? It was the reason for his shady outfit, those shining eyes, the mysterious aura, and the lack of movement around the tent. He had not moved from where he sat, but now Saber understood why.

“If she is as good at this game as she is shooting, finding her will not be easy. I wish you luck.” The man in black let out a soft chuckle and lowered his head, hiding his face once more beneath his black hood. Saber frowned beneath his own mask, his scarf, and turned away from the man in black. Their meeting was now done and Saber knew what he had to do. In order to draw this woman out, he would have to play her game. Not the game she was playing now, but the one she played a long, long time ago. It would take some good planning, but Saber knew what he had to do.

Very carefully, the Assassin led his young companion out of the stall and carefully walked her through the crowd and back out to the street. After what seemed like an eternity, the Assassin could finally breathe in some fresh air. He had escaped the stall he had gone to just to observe, but ended up sticking around for much longer than he had wanted. Time would be short and he would have to work quickly. The good thing was that Saber had ninety percent of what he needed. The Assassin simply needed to find the right spot, which would not be too difficult. Saber needed a wide open area where he could stow in a lot of items and put up a huge tower of sorts. All of that would be easy, but what he truly needed to get his hands on was something large enough to draw in some attention. He needed an oversized Coconia fruit. That itself was a task he would need to overcome, but one he actually would pass off to another…

Tapping at his screen as he walked, Saber decided to act on one of his new “friendships”. A man named Circus had appeared before him recently and the player had sent Saber some contact information, one of the few brave enough to do so. However, he would be the first one Saber ever reached out to individually. Even Kitty had yet to receive any kind of personal message from Saber first, which made the man chuckle. Poor woman, out of the hundreds of players, she decided to chase after one of the most solitary people in the game. It was a sad decision on her part, but he would not judge her or tell her to do otherwise. Saber enjoyed her company, a lot.

“Don’t you know the rules? You’re supposed to contact three days after your date. Not one day!” The estranged voice of the fellow adventurer made Saber sigh. He was still just as weird over telepathy as he was in person. Strangely, Saber didn’t expect anything less. Circus was a weird fellow, and not being weird would have made Saber uncomfortable.

“I need you to find me the biggest Coconia Fruit you can and meet me at the coordinates I’m sending you. You have three hours.” Saber spat his words like orders across the communication airways and the initial response was silence. Said silence caused the man to stop walking, and his little one peered up at him, wiggling the Kobold plushie’s arms up at him.

“Another date? My friend, you haven’t even taken me out to dinner yet!” Circus began to laugh after he spoke, letting out the voice without much care for where he was. Saber’s eyes narrowed and the Assassin sneered. This Summoner was a troublesome fellow but he was a tricky fellow. As task such as this should be enough for him to handle, especially since he owed Saber…

“I’ll have your fruit. Let me know where you wish to meet and I will be there.” After hearing Saber’s aggravation and getting no response, the Summoner finally stopped laughing and actually spoke something that made sense. After that, the player disconnected. Saber huffed against and opened up his menu. Just outside of London was a large enough clearing for the job Saber needed to be done. It was close enough to London that the trip from the festival area to it would not be too annoying, and would even allow people to have a few moments of quiet time or time to stretch their legs and get away from the crowds. But, it was far enough away where it would force the crowd to spread some. There would be no horde of people in the way like some places had. It was not perfect, but it was good enough. Saber took a mental note of the zone’s location, typed it into a message box, and sent it to Circus.

“Come on. We’ve got some work to do.” Saber waved lightly at his little companion and she nodded with a smile, skipping along beside the Assassin without much concern of where they were going, if she had any concerns at all. The little one was so carefree recently that Saber honestly wondered if she even cared about the world around her. She was so unfocused and oblivious to things that she seemed to not even be on the same plane of existence. That wasn’t a bad thing, however, but it wasn’t a good thing either. She wasn’t by Saber’s side just for show. The little girl was a level 30 Ripper Jack, a vicious beast from the Purple Mansion he had tamed. Her aggressive presence the night he met her was just short of being suffocating, and that was no stretch. Saber was a level ninety and could handle her kind with ease, but a player who didn’t have his kind of field experience would have a lot of trouble if she was pissed off. Saber kept that in mind and let his little trump card enjoy herself.

Yet, as he walked and she skipped or do whatever she was doing, the Assassin couldn’t help but smile. She was so small and innocent that Saber doubted anyone who would see her could believe that she was a vicious monster. Sometimes, Saber even forgot that she was. It was one thing he honestly enjoyed about having the little girl by his side. He was put at ease, and he tended to do things he normally wouldn’t. She would tug on his sleeve, grab his cape, and point. Just point, that’s all she would do. The girl’s little finger would direct Saber’s attention and the hardened soldier would sigh and cave. Saying no to the little girl would generally get him the pouting face and silent treatment; Saber didn’t do well with either of them, at least not with her. He could handle it if it came from a woman, but his little one was a massive dagger stabbing into his spine. He couldn’t ignore her. It made him feel much worse than he normally would. Plus, he had to practically live with her.

“Mister, where are we going?” The little voice perked up from Saber’s lower left and the Assassin blinked a few times. The gloss over his eyes was defogged and the man stopped in his tracks, looking around himself quickly to get his bearings. Well, so much for staying on task. In just a few minutes of letting his mind wander, the Assassin had kept walking and his awareness of his surroundings had vanished. The man’s lips pulled into a line as he looked around and saw that he had completely whiffed when it came to where he was supposed to actually go.

“…Not this way.” Saber huffed and turned around on his heels. The little Ripper by his side let out a giggle as she spun around as well, mimicking Saber’s own twisting motion. The Assassin let out a rumble as he was laughed at and lightly tapped his companion on the head. Even Blumpy began to laugh on the Assassin’s shoulder. Saber continued to grumble as his two own tamed beasts chuckled at him. Even at his slightly aggressive tap, his little Ripper Jack continued to laugh. Well, at least she was enjoying herself. That was all Saber could honestly ask for. As he walked with the little Ripper Jack by his side, hanging onto him by his cloak and Blumpy on his shoulder, Saber was comfortable. Rather than sitting around behind a desk, writing over papers for days at a time, his companions were tugging him around and showing him just as much as he was showing them. Without his tamed allies by his side, Saber doubted he would have been walking around as much as he was. Today, for him, was supposed to be a quiet one where he would be undisturbed behind his desk. The influence of his little Ripper and her buddy in crime, Blumpy, obviously changed that, and he was not complaining. As he walked, each step for Saber was taking today was progress. Each step was making Saber more comfortable with himself, and in the world.

And underneath his scarf, the quiet, lonely soul was smiling.

: Post Title :
-Thread Brick-

: Word Count :
20019

: Skills Used :
N/A

: Tagged :
Saber

: Notes :
-Mic Drop-

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Mellow]

HP: 100%MP: 100% Monk - Tailor - Beserker
"What we do now?..." It was a pretty good question, to be honest. Mellow hadn't the slightest clue on what they'd do. Within this festival had been a plentiful amount of things to do but yet he wasn't exactly sure which of them he really wanted to do. For the first time in his life(Pfft, yeah right), Mellow actually had nothing to do. There was no wanting to talk about anything, there was no wanting to really do anything. Straight out boredo-- "Hello sirs, looks like yous twos could really use sometin ta do. Do ya happen ta have any girlfriends on dis day, eh"? A man appeared before them, he seemed to be some information broker; telling all the lonely and desperate men where they could get their hands on some juicy courtesans. "Look, I've got da know-how on some "forbidden fruit" and I've got no problem showing ya da way; for the right price, of course". "You son of a bitch.." Mellow's fist curled up, angered that the man would even think to invite him into such a place. Megani was no fool, she knew what was going to go down and decided it best to keep her mouth shut; just in case he would snap at her instead of him. "What the hell?..You think you're neeping cool don't you?..You honestly don't got one neeping issue with what you're doing?" The man frowned, realizing what events his words would lead up to "What's ya name? Mellow? A level 15 Monk right? Look, kid, ya gotta lot to live for.. you dun wanna ruin it by messing with de wrong people do ya? Why don't you just forget what I've said and move on here; make all of our lives bet--" Mellow's hand gripped the man's shirt; the man grinning as he knew the royal guard would slice him down immediately upon first blow. "You gotta lotta neepin' nerve touchin m-" Mellow grew closer to the man "Look here you neeping half-baked scarface wanna be. You..you..YOU?!.. You think you KNOW..what IT MEANS to strike TERROR INTO SOMEONE'S HEART?! No no no no NO! I WILL neepING BREAK YOU"! Mellow pushed the man down to the ground; Megani placing her hand on his shoulder as the royal guard came crashing down; ready to slice should any further action continue. Balling up his fists, he looked up at the royal guard; a malicious frown behind his mask "Let's see how much longer it'll be before this fist is at your face next". The man quickly gather his composure; jolting up in shock as he prepared to scurry away "Ya think you'll get outta dis shit, kid? You just dug ya neepin' grave! Dis won'be de last time you'll hear'a da Busted Chippas! Boss is gunna dismantle ya, do ya hear me?!" After running away as fast as he could, Mellow managed to calm himself down; turning to Polack with an apologetic expression beyond the mask. "Hey uh.. sorry you had to see that man. On the bright side, it looks like I'll have something to do." "Waaaaiiit!" "Oh god no.. it can't be.." "Mellllloooowww!" Mellow turned around, his eyes widened as the green-haired girl once again disturbed his day. "Oh my god, WHAT?! What is it that you could possibly need from me a third time"? She giggled "Now that's not nice; especially when I hold the name of your...oh" Mellow stopped dead in his tracks, truly terrified of her sudden change "Oh? What do you mean oh?" She reached back into her satchel and pulled out the long, tan envelope; opening up and handing it to Mellow. The moment he'd seen the name, his body completely shut down; feeling as if the world itself came to a complete halt. "No.. this can't be true.. it can't be.." Megani looked over his shoulder to find a rather shocking surprise inside the envelope. "Oh?..heheh..mmn..I like this.. I like this alot" She tightened her grip on Mellow's shoulder, barely able to contain her excitement for the events that followed. "I was going to give you the name of your speed date, but it seems you've already met with him." She turned to the foreign assassin, arm and hand extending as if to say "wallah" as she finished up her statement with a playful grin on her face. "Mellow, after going through countless people we finally found you a match! Let me introduce you to your date for the remainder of this event...Mellow, meet--" POLACK?! "Looks like I'll get to keep him after-all" "SHUT. UP. MEGANI!"
Mellow/Megani Level 15 Monk Word Count || 1158( 772 + 50%) Notes || :3 Music || No Muse Tag || Polack Mellow

Template created by CheshireCheetah of GS

[Xaireal]

[attr="class","lyric"]baby, i'm preying on you tonight [attr="class","word"] 678 (1017) WORDS Ah, there she was again, taking the charge. She couldn't help it - it was only in her nature to do as such. Xai probably should tone it down a little, but Fenrir was making it a little too easy to be demanding at a time like this. Besides, isn't it supposed to be the woman that had a blast today? Or was it just couples, who knew. Men were supposed to take charge, and while no doubt Fenrir could take charge he was undoubtedly failing right now. Not that this was a bad thing, no, Xai quite preferred it. The fox tail liked having control of things, and if this was one of those times than so be it. Surprising how much Fenrir knew about her even though they had only known each other for the greater part of a year. Then again, her sense of time had kind of warped since now she was stuck in a video game versus reality. But it was all the same to her. For all intents and purposes, that one year was her entire life. And that made Fenrir her friend - she'd even venture to say her best friend, seeing as he was the only person that stayed constant here with her. But this kind of sentimentality would have her killed. Not that she was really going to die, but it would definitely not be good to her health. If she really truly cared about him, her enemies would have a field day with that. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't have any to speak of now. And that she would be soon making a getaway. Not that she wanted anything to do with it, but it would definitely be lonely if she stayed in her comfortable life in Londinium without Fenrir. Who else would she tease and annoy? While Xai was confident that she could make many a new friend, she wasn't sure that she could grow to trust them as easily as she did to wolf boy. Back when she was so much less experienced and much more trusting with people. God, it had been a year already and how much she'd changed because of it. "My dear Fenrir, you put too much faith in me and my... heart breaking." It's not like she did it on purpose, but more often than not her clientele seemed to want more out of her than she was willing to offer. She was quick to change the subject though. No more talking of heart break. A wonder she was never on the receiving end, though. Probably better for her, anyways. Being emotionally attached - she wondered how that felt. Maybe one day she'll be in a committed relationship - Nah. Not her style. At least, not in line with her job. "Honestly, Fenrir, I'm good with anything. This is your adventure, after all. I'm just tagging along at your request. It's probably a smart thing to not embark on a dangerous journey alone, but I'm not going to make the decisions for you. At least not yet. I assure you, I've got everything in the bank that's important. I'm ready to go at any moment you desire." Business as usual. But best get that out of the way before the fun begins. And the fun was going to begin, very very soon. But Xai found that they could have a different kind of fun at the festival, one that she rarely did experience. It was happier to do this first, she supposed. And it had nothing to do with carnal pleasures. It was just, for the purest sense of the word - fun. Like spending time with others and enjoying yourself in a non-sexual manner kind of fun. Fun she'd only experienced a couple of times she was here inside Elder Tale, if she didn't count the so called 'fun' she had whenever she bugged Fenrir. "Well, if we're for relaxing later and enjoying ourselves here for now, I suppose I'll take up your suggestion of fortune telling. Lead the way, Wolf boy."

[newclass=.lyric]font:14px georgia;text-transform:uppercase;color:#000000;text-align:center;background-color:#ffffff;[/newclass]
[newclass=.word]position:relative;float:right;height:110px;width:110px;margin-top:-16px;margin-right:-115px;font:14px georgia;text-transform:uppercase;color:#000000;text-align:center;background-color:#ffffff;opacity:0;-webkit-transition: all 1s ease;[/newclass]
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[Polack]

Polack
|| ...what? ||

"Uhm...." Polack lifted up his hand to stop the sudden ruckus between Mellow and the strange newcommer, since he didn't understand what the hell just happened, but on the other side he didn't know what to do, considering he didn't even understand what was going on. All he figured was that the guy said something that enraged Mellow. Before he could do anything though, everything concluded already. Perplex and with his hand still up to interfere, which didn't happen, Polack simply looked at the man disappear. And if everything wasn't enough, suddenly a female with green hair appeared.

Polack didn't understand everything from their conversation, but what he understood was enough to make him back up two steps and stare at them all. What? Why was Polack suddenly Mellow's date? "Uhm..." Polack wanted to say something against it. How could he get himself in such a situation? He simply wanted to overcome his fear of talking with people so he forced himself to talk to someone on this damn festival and suddenly that? Whatever fate was doing, Polack figured that it was a huge troll. Looking at Mellow he lifted both eyebrows and didn't know what to do after all.

Word Counter: 200
+50% Bonus: 300
Person in Contact with: Mellow