Step one: Find an ally... And stuff.

[Nina Sysedevins]

Today was the day... Not the first, for sure, but it would be one of many firsts.
She'd spent a good long while doing nothing but live in this wonderful new world, watching the others lament the loss of their old lives in exchange for their new ones in this beautiful realm. The buildings were old, lacking electrical power and usually plumbing... But they were peaceful, even amidst the initial terror among others and their mad rants.

A shame they were so eerily silent. It made the alarms in her head beep at her relentlessly unless she started to chat with herself...
On the upside, no one gave her even a passing glance when they discovered her doing so.

HOWEVER, today was not a day for such things! No, today she had decided to move on. Once she'd lived among others, grabbing food from those who offered it and even nabbing it when she could. Today was the day she'd take the first and most basic step in advancing in this world.

She needed to make a friend. An ally, really, but she liked calling them friends.
It made her feel as though she would be a little more heavily connected, that way.

After having pulled open her inventory, something she'd only rarely done to check for items received every so often, she equipped her hex doll... A simple thing with a burlap skin, painted black eyes and organs with crosses on them, black threads sprouting from its head for hair.
It reminded her vaguely of a boy she once knew. How amusing.

At the moment, she merely leaned against the gates of Londinium's starting town, though she was soon on her way through a valley she'd heard many who came back speak of. Supposedly it held weaker monsters off the side of the path just outside Londinium's gates, a good start if she wanted to level up. She assumed she'd likely be able to find at least one or two people in the area around her level that might be willing to team up with her... As far as she'd read, her class skills wouldn't be much use in terms of damage alone, nor would her hex doll. While accurate, it apparently had low damage output.
Or at least that's what the item description revealed.

On her walk through the valley, she glanced about with a wide grin, her hands grasping the large needle and hex doll behind her back as she skipped along merrily. "Will I meet monsters? Will I meet people? Or will I meet something between first, I wonder? Hmm~?" She hummed, her massive eyes turning to her right as Dull Green Slimes came into view off to the side of the path through the valley.

"Slimes are always the first enemies you kill in a game, right? I'm gonna get some jelly~! I wonder if they taste like apples?" She asked herself with a puzzled pout of the lips, her brow furrowing as she approached a lone slime, raising a hand to select her skills menu, flipping auto-attack on and waiting as her body moved of its own accord, her needle rising slowly before dropping down towards the chest of her hex doll...

[Lavinia]

New friends! It was a nice day to gather medicinal ingredients in the woods outside Londinium and Lavinia was not one to miss an opportunity. The young enchantress was out with a goal to collect some of the more readily available ingredients for her mixtures, mainly health and mana restoring potions. Her personal supply of each was running low, so here she was. She wandered the woods, occasionally stopping to pluck a herb from its roots and placing the herb in her bag. She was careful when she did this, pulling the root up would kill the plant and as a result, discontinue its growth into more herbs for harvesting. She was also careful not to get dirt on her white outfit, don't want to get it all dirty. Going about her task Lavinia began to sing softly to herself, the enchantress even now still loved music. She often wondered if she could commission an alchemist to create a magitech device that would allow her to resume making music like she would back in the real world, not that she thought about the real world much anymore. It was a side effect of being stuck in a video game world for so long one would guess. You lose track of what is the real world and what is the game world, Lavinia had been here long enough that she often confused the two, to her, The Unfounded Kingdom has become the real world. Her inventory is almost packed full by now, Lavinia was hoping to find a few more to balance out what she gathered towards supply. While health potions were always in demand but mana potions outweighed it in demand and she often ran out of her supplies quickly. Plucking a few more as she wandered she suddenly finds herself looking at another adventure. Looked about average age for an adventure, low level judging by her gear and of course the interface overlay and lastly Heretic. Targeting the girl Lavinia takes just a moment to cast "Evaluate" on her, revealing her whole skill list. Looking through the skill list, Lavinia takes note of her skills and how her choices lack... oomph. She wondered if the girl would be open to some assistance, now that her own task is complete she didn't really mind herself. Watching for a moment more, Lavinia sees the girl get ready to fight a green slime and decides she will help after all. Taking her staff from her inventory, equipping it in her right hand and then pulling her hood down wit the left Lavinia shakes her head freeing her red orange hair from the confines of the hood. Taking a step out to make herself more clear, Lavinia takes a few cautious steps towards the girl and raises her left hand. Taking aim at the slime, her palm glows pink for a second and then disipates casting "Astral Bind". "Need some help?" she says at the instant the slime is wrapped in pink atherial chains that sprung up from the ground and will hold it in place for six more seconds. Lastly she instantly shifted her posture to take aim with her staff, aiming the crystal at the slime preparing for her next action. WORD COUNT:535 TAGS:Nina Sysedevins NOTES:...

[Nina Sysedevins]

Nina hummed, glancing towards the girl with a nod in response even as her automated hand jabbed into her hex doll, an invisible force piercing the dull green slime's gooey flesh and causing it to shake. "Of course, of course, of course! I knew someone would show up... It's like solitaire~!" she declared, letting out a coo at the sight of Lavinia's glowing palm, her eyes drawn to the dull green slime's amorphous body as it was pulled to the ground.

The strange creature's body seemed to bulge like a gelatinous balloon under the chains. Taking advantage of its mobility, Nina grinned and tapped the icon in her skills menu. With so small a list, it wouldn't be too difficult, at least.

"Lying Darkness~!" she cried with a laugh, her hand raised at a ninety-degree angle with her shoulders in response to the skill's activation, the ground beneath the dull green slime turning black as small orbs of shadow rose from the super-naturally blackened soil.

This casting effect remained active for a mere four seconds, barely lasting long enough to take effect before the chains vanished. As the casting ended, thin hair-like tendrils lashed up from the ground, wrapping about the dull green slime and merging with its amorphous hide silently, black lines resembling cracks slowly fading as the miasma's corruption sunk into the very being of the creature.

Nina was slightly surprised stabbing it worked, even if it was invisible... Though she assumed merely disrupting it and puncturing its outer membrane would cause harm, just as it seemed to do to cells she'd seen lanced with needles. Funny, given she herself was essentially doing the exact same thing on a larger scale... Though this creature wasn't JUST a cell-like organism. No, it was a MAGICAL cell-like organism. "Of course, of course, of course it's magic..." she chimed quietly to herself.

Standing on the spot as the chains then vanished, Nina hummed a little tune as her needle in hand rose automatically. "Stab, stab, stab the slime, make it nice'n deeead! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily slicing off its head~!" she sung. "Although it doesn't actually have a head... Welp, it still feels pain. That's all that matters~!" As her body went about its slow motions, her hex doll pierced by her needle once every two seconds, yet another slime began to approach the two players.
It didn't seem to be acting aggressively... Perhaps it was drawn by their mana?

While the new arrival didn't appear to be acting as a hostile, their current target was visibly agitated, crawling forwards before rising on the spot to form a slim bat-like jelly before swinging itself at Nina's outstretched hands.


Word count: 447.
Tags: Lavinia Nina Sysedevins

[Lavinia]

It's not Jello! Lavinia watched the Heretic as battled the slime, she noticed she was using her interface to fight, a big sign that she was new to the combat of this world. Lavinia remembered her first fight, back when she was a Summoner in these very same woods. In the group with Balore, Kitty and Takoda, she had used the interface as well, but it didn't take her long to start using more conveniant forms of combat. It was something Lavinia planned to teach her as soon as this slime was dead. Her staff still raised at the slime the crystal glowed purple signifing the begining of her casting "Pulse Bullet", the purple orb flies from the staff and hits the slime dealing a decent chunk of its health in damage all thanks to the level difference. Perfect timing to as the creature was about to strike the Heretic and put Lavinia at the top of its threat list. It was a good thing that the slime was so slow, as the creature turned and started towards Lavinia she took several steps back waiting for pulse bullet to be avaiable again. As she kited the slime back Lavinia watched as the Heretic stabbed her doll dealing small amounts of damage to the slime, but it didn't matter Lavinia still had a major thread lead. Taking aim for the final time, she raises her staff and casts "Pulse Bullet" for the final time, finishing the slime. Relaxing her stance as the slime burst into digital pixals and falling gold, Lavinia rests the tip of her staff on the ground and smiles at the Heretic. "I'm Lavinia, nice to meet you." she says introducing herself giving the Heretic a friendly smile. Lavinia looks the girl over, tallish, purple hair and eyes, going by her verbal and body language the girl is crazy, something to be expected from a Heretic. Lavinia waits to see if she has anything to say, maybe introducing herself or yelling for helping then walks closer to her. "Was that your first time fighting? I can help teach you if you'd like." she says with a soft voice, continuing her usual friendly smile. She wondered if she would accept her offer of assassiance, going off a hunch she wouldn't be able to deal much damage, making combat difficult. So it would be best to have someone else to help, even if that help is ten levels above your own. WORD COUNT:408 TAGS:Nina Sysedevins NOTES:...

[Nina Sysedevins]

Nina hummed with a smirk, watching as the gooey green blob of a creature found itself unto a barrage of flying orbs of light. The spell didn't seem like anything special to her, though it apparently did some decent damage to the dull green slime, blasting off hunks of its gooey hide and drawing its attention away from the Heretic. As it rolled and slid along the ground towards Lavinia, the other dull green slime moved closer to Nina. It wasn't attacking her, though... How odd and adorable. A shame she'd never thought to take a monster taming subclass.

As her role in combat seemed to have ended, since the other wouldn't likely attack without being provoked first, Nina closed her combat menu with a shrug. Meanwhile, the slime that had nearly lashed out at her was blown to bits, its body dissipating into a cloud of glittering prisms and coins. "Cute, cute, cute... I wonder if I'll die like that too? Heh... Nice way to die, I suppose."

Upon Lavinia's addressing of the Heretic, Nina turned to face them with a wide smile, her hands held together behind her back as she leaned towards them, chin rising to keep her eyes focused on their own as she spoke her reply. "Lavinia, Lavinia, Lavinia... Lavnia is a tank pilot, a controller, but not the tank. Lavinia's a tank? No, Lavinia's a pilot! An Enchanter? A Heretic? A summoner? No... Lavinia's mind is intact, completely, and hasn't summoned any help... Does a summoner need help? Summoners... What skills did they have? No, no... Um..." she murmured, trying to untangle the mass of thoughts that flew through her mind and seemed to collide with one another more often then not. "You're a not-tank, a controller, while I'm a Heretic? Yes... Hmm? Yes, I haven't done any combat till today~! Was it that obvious? I've been sitting within the safety of the towns for a while, snacking whenever I got hungry. I probably could have done some work as a Tailor, now that I think about it... Crafting, making, eating and faking..." she hummed with a snicker. "Yes, yes, yes. I'd love some help~! I'd actually planned to come here to get a hang of things and I DID expect someone would probably wander along that might be willing to show me how to kill in this game. Not like anyone would gain much PKing me, after all~!"



Word count: 406
Tags: Nina Sysedevins Lavinia

[Lavinia]

Lavinia pointed at the slime that was drawing closer to Nina, while the creatures weren't aggressive, their bodies are acidic and would damage anything they came into contact with. "You may want to keep away from him, his body is acidic and since its attracted to people like us it can be problematic." she says with the hint of knowledge and understanding, since she's fought many slimes in her time. Lavinia continued to smile at the girl, while she did... something, Lavinia didn't know what. Trying to process the situation maybe, this girl was Lavinia's first encounter with a Heretic that wasn't trying to blast her in the face so she really didn't know anything about them from an ally point of view. She listened to the girl as she spoke, absorbing what information about her personality she could, all signs still pointed towards, strange, but she seemed nice enough so far. She waits for her companion to finish speaking before she would answer any questions or comments, she thought the girl would never stop. "Yes, I'm a enchanter. Yes, its obvious, you are using the interface to fight. There are much better ways of fighting." she says, she would explain how to fight in a moment or at least try to. Learning to cast the spells is just something you get a feel for doing and with a lot of practice. Lavinia noticed something odd that she said "Faking?" she asked curiously, she really didn't have any idea what she meant. Smiling Lavinia opens her interface and sends Ninia a party invite, if she would acecpt the pair would be in a party and able to continue easily. "You should still be careful, there are people out here who will kill you just for fun. Its not a pleasent experience. But..." she says prepairing the words and how she'd teach this girl how to fight. "The best way to learn how to fight without using the interface is to just go and do it. Its one of those things you learn by feel." she says there really wasn't much she could instruct on, well there was but it was nitpicky stuff and she didn't want to come off as rude. "So unless you have any questions we can try disopssing of your new friend there." she says taking a more rigid stance as she waits for Nina to decide to engage the slime or not. WORD COUNT:406 TAGS:Nina Sysedevins NOTES:...

[Nina Sysedevins]

Nina blinked in surprise, turning to stare at the tiny amorphous green blob. "Acidic? Really? Hmm... I figured they were just gooey little gel-things. Like a jube-jube or jello...?" She asked herself, more than Lavinia.

As the self-proclaimed enchanter responded to her answers, Nina swung her arms at her sides unhurriedly, seemingly unconcerned with the slowly approaching slime. However, she did wander away from it slowly in wide goofy strides, her legs swinging high into the air before landing once more, her arms swinging it similarly exaggerated arcs as she lead it in a silent marching band of sorts... But without the band.

"The cute enchantress wants to teach me how to kill, to maim, and to hinder... How unusual, yet fitting, that such an adorable girl be my teacher. So what's first, my sweet little enchanter? Will we be working on my skills with my needle, to penetrate more vigorously? Or perhaps we'll be weaving a much more intimate magic together, as we're both casters? You seem fairly well-versed in the stuff, after all... A shame I can't be your teacher~!" The heretic cooed, hugging her arms about herself with a hum a moment later, her eyes shut tight. "Faking? Yes, faking, faking, faking~! Everything's fake, so everything's real, because everything real is fake! The only way to live in a fake world is falsely, but to be fake is to be real, so the real you is fake! In other words, it's not faking, but being real in this fake world~! Or perhaps it's being fake in the real world? Either way, we're always faking, because otherwise the world's false face will frown on us, whether it be this fake world or another..."

After a few seconds of silence, her eyes still shut and her body frozen in her previous position like a statue, Nina then turned her attention to the slime that still followed. Her stance becoming more relaxed, she set her hands at her hips, her eyes shooting open as a grin spread across her face. The party invite, of course, had drawn her from her stupor. "Hmm? Party, party, party... I do enjoy a good party. Corpse party? I should have tried the game before I was trapped... Trapped? Saved. Yes, saved. Perhaps I can play here, too? Yes... I'll join the corpse party~!" Nina said with a laugh, a hand rising to slap the icon that floated before her, her palm striking "Join". With a little ping to indicate she'd joined the party, combined with a simple written notification, the two were set as a team.

"Feeling how to fight in a game... You'd be surprised how often I've done that. Ever heard of the armored core series? I loved that game... Explosions, giant robots and lots of data~! Oh gods, how I loved it. I was such an unfair mech-maker, but I was really good with the controls." The heretic hummed, a hand over her chin. "Of course, I think they made the controls a little less tricky in later games... Either way, the heretic's no newbie to feeling out a game~! I wonder, I wonder, I wonder... Perhaps my magic will become more powerful if I fuse? Combine? Become one? Yes, yes, yes... Too soon. Yes. I wonder, would cuddling with the teacher enhance my magical power? Oh, but that's so lewd, so wrong, so right~!" The heretic cried out with a blush, writhing on the spot whilst still standing, seeming to slide along the ground on her heels towards Lavinia, stopping short of them a few feet away.

Leaning over the smaller girl with a tight-lipped smile and pinched shut eyes, she cooed "Let's kill everything, then." Nina then stood up straight once more, her hands lifting her hex doll and needle into the enchanter's view in clenched fists. "Of course, I'll gladly have you show me how it's done, mini-mistress~!"


Word count: 659
Tags: Nina Sysedevins Lavinia

[Lavinia]

Lavinia smiled at Nina's apparent surprise at the slimes basic attack. "It tries to surround it's target and dissolve it. I've been told it's like a mild burning sensation, plus it gets all over your clothes when you manage to get it off you..." she says leaving a pause after as she watched Nina strides around avoiding the slime, she didn't really thing Nina would want that stuff on her. She wondered just went on in Nina's head as she watched, curiously observing the strange girl "At least she's interesting..." she thought and listened to what Nina had to say next. Cute, adorable, these were words not something Lavinia expected to hear Nina say. Sure, her big sister kittygrey always said she was cute and adorable, usually at the same time, but she always thought Kitty was over exaggerating, plus she is a bit biased, being Lavinia's Nee-San and all. It wasn't that Lavinia thought she was ugly or unattractive, it was just like there are much prettier girls out there than her so why notice her instead of them? Either way, Ninia's compliments mixed in with her questions of what they'll do first made Lavinia blush too. Trying to think of something to say and getting nothing, Lavinia brings her right hand up and softy coughs into it "And maybe if you are a good student, you'll get a hug as a reward." she says quietly, "Well, that was the dumbest thing you could say... At least she should be motivated now. she thinks and continues speaking after the party invite was accepted. Lavinia shook her head "I see, I wasn't really into video games in the other world so no, sorry." she says laughing. It was true, the only video games Lavinia ever played were the really old ones, where the characters were made of several pixels instead of polygons. "But, if that really is the case it shouldn't be a problem." Lavinia says smiling hoping her blush wasn't to noticeable. Lavinia intended to show Nina the hotbar method of combat, it was rather simple and easy to learn so why not start with that. Opening her interface Lavinia adds several of the skills to her empty hotbar, she never used the hotbar anymore so no need to have it full of skills taking up space. "Not just yet, okay open up your interface and add your three skills to the bar at the bottom of your vision. You may have heard of this method, it's the most popular method used. After you add them I want you target the slime and then try and take the pose the system makes your body take when you activate it manually. Then imagine yourself pressing the button, it helps to say the spell aloud, if you do it right it should work." WORD COUNT:472 TAGS:Nina Sysedevins NOTES:...