[Open] Into the Woods...

[Scharden Freuden]

Shard walks through the expansive field in Windsor Greatwood. The sun barely rose above the treetops in the early morning. The orange yellow sun beams cut through the empty spaces between the tree branches, which pass across Shard's mask. Which causes him to pull the brim of his top hat over his eye slits, blocking out the sun rays. The green grass crunches quietly underneath Shard's black loafers. Shard tries to enjoy the quiet morning air, walking at a leisurely pace instead of his normal stride.



"Ah, this is a rather nice day, innit. And what could possibly make this morning better?" Shard's gaze finds a herd of Young Pittered Boar and he continues his thought, musing. "That's right. A nice dose of hunting. A perfect excuse to practice using both my weapons at the same time."



The herd of docile boars simply roam around the empty field, snorting as they chew on the grass. Shard watches the monsters peacefully go about their business. "I'm glad that they won't be going anywhere any time soon. This will give me some time to take a well deserved break from walking." Taking a quick look around him, Shard makes doubly sure that he's alone and if there are any more monsters hanging around to study." Either to his fortune or misfortune, he couldn't spot anymore creatures in the vicinity. Shard sighs to himself and slowly sits down on the grass. "I wish I brought myself some papers and a pen, this whole ordeal would be so much easier on me, if I wrote my notes down rather than hold them all in my head. Well, I'll just remind myself to get a hold of a satchel and craft some supplies when I return to the safe zone."



Shard takes in a long drawn out inhale and lets himself fall backwards onto the soft grass. Shifting his position a little, he moves his hand behind his head and cross his legs. Allowing himself a rare, but well needed rest in a long time ever since he's entered the game world. Tipping his hat forward to cover his mask and his face. He contemplates undoing the band that holds up his ponytail, but ultimately decides against it.



Shard's thought shifts back to his memories of Earth, remembering how much similar it was back then. "Just me wandering around in a new setting and doing all that I can to avoid people...but the reason I did it back then was because I was shy. But now...what is the reason now? Wouldn't it be sensible that I make myself gather a team? As my skills stand now, I can't afford to give myself the luxury of taking damage and relying on TAINTED CHARITY and GLUTTONOUS HAZE to keep me standing. And MIASMA CURTAIN has the same maximum range as my current grimoire. Discounting the maximum charge time for that proximity spell, it's not exactly effective for eliminating all of the threats that manage to surround me. If anything it would push them away,,,but out of my own maximum range. Geh, there's just too many openings to handle by myself right now, so it's prudent that I take on enemies one at a time, at best. And pulling back and retreating won't help if I gathered too much aggro."



Pulling his right hand away from behind his head, and uses his index finger to rub his temple. "All the more reason I should stay on my toes and take things in stride. After all, all of this effort would be wasted if I learn nothing."



Shard returns his hand back to it original place behind his head. His shoulder relaxing as he does so and muses to himself. "Too much planning, but to see it come to fruition makes it all the sweeter."



(WORD COUNT: 636)

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

Having been wandering around the game world for a little while, Amu had yet to decide whether or not she regretted seeing if the Elder Tales was any good. Sure, she accepted the fact that until further notice she was completely and utterly stuck and would have to find a way to function in the world of Elder Tales. However, accepting that you are stuck and actually liking being there in the first place were two entirely different things. Until she became more familiar with the world and maybe if she found some other adventurers or something she enjoyed doing, the answer was definitely up in the air. Setting aside that line of thought for the meantime, she returned to paying attention to her surroundings, the Windsor Greatwood. It did not seem all that different from other forests in other games she had played before, save for the obvious aesthetic differences. Well, and that weird stump-thing she had encountered, but she had been too amused by the thing to even consider fighting it and had moved on.

"A petulant stump...that is definitely a new one. If there are any rocks that behave like that stump, I might actually fall over from laughing at it too much."

Running her hand through her ponytails, she audibly sighed, having not found any other monsters to fight that didn't look like they'd instantly trounce her. For a moment she considered going back and fighting that ridiculous stump, but she spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye. It definitely didn't seem to be hostile, considering the slow and languid movement of the thing; in fact whatever it was seemed completely unaware she was anywhere near by. Slowly creeping closer in a circular motion, she also noted that there appeared to be some sort of clearing, as well as more of the now distinctly porcine looking animal.

"Guess I was bound to run into some kind of peaceful monster at some point...but, I'd rather not just bum-rush them. Even if they look rather weak to me, they might be a bit problematic if I agitate them and have all of them going after me at once or running around panicked."

Carefully keeping enough of a distance it hopefully would not frighten the monsters, she continued to creep in a circular manner until she realized that the monsters were completely preoccupied with grazing. Pausing for a moment, she picked up a twig from the forest floor and snapped it in half. Nothing more than a flick of the ear from the closest monster indicated that any notice had been paid to the twig having snapped. "These monsters are really stupid, aren't they? Some predatory monster could practically waltz right up and they would have absolutely idea until it is too late. Heck, I bet I could be about nine feet away and they might barely notice me."

Deciding to move at least a little closer, she noticed something lying in the grass that definitely did not look anything like the herd of peaceful monsters she was planning to attack. She switched her plans from moving closer to the monsters to a plan of getting a better look at whatever, or maybe whomever, was laying in the grass. Looking around Amu found a fairly good sized rock that would serve well enough for standing on and figuring out if the entity in the grass was hostile or not.

"Hopefully it is not hostile... I would really rather not have to go and find yet another foe to level up on. Or worse, walk all the way back to that stump."

After climbing up onto the rock, which was not a particularly easy task considering it was too tall to just step on, too short to really require climbing, and there were no smaller rocks or logs near by that she could quietly move to use as a makeshift step, Amu could see parts of an arm from her vantage point and could, at the very least, tell that the 'it' was actually a who - specifically another adventurer. She also noticed they were wearing a top-hat; a rather unusual choice for an adventurer, but having noticed more than a few unusual outfits being worn by others, she was far less surprised than she normally would have been. Turning her attention back to more important matters, she chose to not rush anything and wait. Whether or not the other adventurer was hostile, was an answer she would more than gladly wait for patiently.

(WORD COUNT: 757)

[Scharden Freuden]

Shard takes in a deep breath, his chest rising as high as it could go, before he lets it out in a long, relaxed sigh through his mask. He relaxes even further into the soft grass, and a light breeze blows by. The gentle wind rolls through the relatively quiet field, only to be interrupted by the occasional snorts from the boars that are grazing in the field. The heretic is very confident that he’s completely alone in one of Windsor Greatwoods’ many field areas. Taking into account that he hasn't seen any adventurers for quite some time, he takes this opportunity to continue his thought. "How much do I really remember about Earth...Nothing worth much now, I suppose. Boring days, boring nights, and all around a boring life. Just living life by myself, for myself..."



Slowly, Shard starts to fall asleep mid-thought. He hasn't rested once, ever since he found himself inside of Elder Tale. The combination of the quiet field, low level monsters, and being alone was a perfect excuse for him to rest his weary mind for a spell. As he snoozes, he lets out a muffled snore underneath his mask and his steady rise and fall of his chest causes his top hat to move down his head. The hat stops at an angle where its brim covers his eyes. Every once in a while Shard moves his shoulders to keep his balance. Underneath his mask, his face grimaces as it seems he's having a rather unpleasant dream.



Jay finds himself on a quiet suburban street, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk. Turning his head around, he discovers that he's sitting in front of his old childhood home. Other than that nothing else can be seen, everything else is obscured by a thick white fog. Without thinking, Jay gets up from the curb and runs towards his old house. But with every step he takes, the home seems to move farther back about another ten feet. Now being aware of what's happening, he tries to force himself to stop, but it seems that Jay has no control over his body. As though he looking through the eyes of a doll, his body keeps moving on its own. "What am I doing?" He thinks to himself, "Why am I still going? What is the point? I'll never make it...It's useless. Pointless. Meaningless."



Shard body starts to toss and turn in the field, reacting poorly to his nightmare.



(WORD COUNT: 413)

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

From her perch on top of the rock, Amu had been observing the Adventurer lying in the grass for what seemed like hours. Obviously, it had been nowhere close to even a single hour, more like maybe ten minutes at the very most. The other adventurer didn't seem to be doing much of anything at all, just lying in the grass with their top hat appearing to be resting more on their face than on top of their head.

“Maybe they’re relaxing? Though…why would they choose to relax here? I mean it’s not the most dangerous place to be, but it’s certainly not the safest either….”

Taking yet another prolonged look at the other Adventurer, in an attempt to further figure out just what was going on and if they were going to be a threat, she noticed something a bit odd about their face. She wasn’t quite sure, but from where she was it appeared like there was something besides the Adventurer’s hat resting on their face. Part of her really wanted to get closer and figure out exactly what she was seeing, but the large majority was still stubbornly bent on waiting.

The monsters, to which she’d been paying no attention, were still mindlessly grazing and totally unaware of either her presence or the other Adventurer’s. Giving them a cursory glance, she mentally sighed. “Honestly, they’re far too unaware… Or maybe I'm just not threatening enough. Yeah, I’m probably just not very threatening.”

Smiling sardonically at that thought, she turned her attention back again to the other Adventurer, curiosity was finally beginning to win out. There was no way she was going to keep waiting on top of this rock until they finally decided to sit up. Especially since they seemed to be asleep, if the shallowness of their breathing was any indication. If she listened hard enough, Amu though she might even hear them snoring.

Deciding to creep a little closer, taking a much more direct route than the circular one from earlier, she noted that the other Adventurer was indeed asleep. As she crept closer, only making sure her steps were silent and not caring about if anyone or anything saw her, it became apparent that what she had spotted from on top of the rock was some kind of mask.

“Yet another unusual piece of-are they wearing a suit? Just what kind of Adventurer are they? Must be something magic-based…unless they’re a really unusual monk.”

Figuring that it was highly unlikely the sleeping Adventurer was a monk, she stopped about fifteen feet away from them. Though she was extremely curious and wanted to closely look at their attire and such, the last thing she wanted was for the Adventurer to suddenly awake with a start, see her standing above them, freak out and attack her blindly while possibly still half asleep. That would definitely not make for a good idea. Instead, she chose to observe from where she had stopped, noting that they had a grimoire as well as a bladed weapon that looked rather a lot like a rapier.

Making sure she didn’t venture too close to either the herd of monsters or the slumbering Adventurer, she considered trying to use the Fortune Telling sub-class she had chosen. Realizing that it was probably useless to use fortune telling on herself, Amu gave a very audible and impatient huff.  She muttered to herself, “This is just a waste of time… They’re probably not even going to wake up any time soon.”

Reaching for her starter katana, Amu was about to figure out a way to separate one of the monsters away from the others in the hopes she could avoid being trampled and finally get some kind of battle experience in Elder Tales. Then she noticed that the sleeping Adventurer seemed to be moving fitfully in their sleep. Looking back and forth between the docile monsters and the Adventurer a few times, she sighed and walked over to the Adventurer.

Pausing about three feet away from them, she decided to crouch on the ground. Other than that, she was at a complete loss for what to do. She still had no idea whether or not they were hostile, but she also felt really bad that they might be having a bad dream. Touching the other adventurer was definitely out of the question.  So she chose the next best option.

“Um….hello? Top hat person?”

(WORD COUNT: 734)

[Scharden Freuden]

“Um….hello? Top hat person?”



His body stops tossing and Shard's ear twitched as he heard a soft, feminine voice. His eyes popped open and he looks up at the origin of the voice. While adjusting to the bright, afternoon light, Shard could make out the silhouette of a woman. Slowly, his eyes makes out the feature of the person who awoke him from his nightmare. "Fox ears...Long purple hair...slender body...a tail...", his eyes stop at the two katanas strapped to the woman's waist. "Armed."



His eyes narrows and he slowly moves his right hand to the handle of his rapier, stopping an inch short of touching it. With a muffled grunt, he slowly sits up so that he can get a better view of the strange woman. His eyes adjusted to the bright light and he was able to see her clearly, noticing the girl's golden eyes. He also notes the girl's posture isn't threatening, and more of an impatient worry sort of thing. Shard's eyes shift as the interface shows off a little information of his guest and he reads it silently to himself.



"Amu Tsukiyomi...A level one Foxtail...Swashbuckler...", Shard reads the last word in a slightly venomous and concerned tone. While keeping one eye on the girl, Shard's left hand quickly going through his skills hotbar and manually activates the EVALUATE skill with his index finger.



"High Roller, Shuffle Windmill, and Viper Raise... These are all offensive-like attacks. She could easily rip me apart with these skills, while I was asleep... Why didn't she- I see, she's not a PVP player. Maybe I could use her..."



He mentally calms himself down and begins to choose his words carefully.



"How can I help you, Fraulein Amu?"

(WORD COUNT: 293)

Amu Tsukiyomi

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

Noticing the other player begin to rouse from whatever was causing him -they are a guy, right?- to have been moving whilst asleep, she chose to not really move from where she had decided to crouch.  Paying somewhat close attention to their movements, she began to re-think whether or not this really had been a good idea.  Especially since she noticed how their posture seemed to practically bristle and saw the slight motions towards their blade.  "Well, at least I am a little way away so I might be able to avoid anything they might try to throw at me..."

Slightly tensing her muscles so that she could quickly move and possibly grab her katanas, she was perplexed by how long it seemed to be taking the other Adventurer to react much beyond the little he had done so far.  By now she was pretty certain they were a guy, though if she was wrong then they could only be a really flat chested female.  "At least grammar is on my side until they speak....if they speak at all, that is.  Man, if they're really female and are that flat-chested, I would probably hide my face and dress like a guy too.  Definitely keep some of the more annoying types of players away, that's for sure."

"How can I help you, Fraulien Amu?"

The question startled from her musings, the definitely low timbre of the other Adventurer's voice confirmed that they were indeed male and not a flat-chested female.  Momentarily surprised that they knew her name, she then remembered that there was, as with most games like Elder Tales, the general information that would appear for all players to read about others.  This whole getting used to being in the game playing it rather than just playing it on a computer like normal really took some getting used to.  Finally taking the time to utilize the freely available information, she learned that they too were a level one named Scharden Freuden, as well as a Heretic.  "That's definitely not a class I would have chosen, but to each their own, I suppose."

Deciding that Scharden likely would have attacked her by now if he was hostile, she subtly relaxed her posture.  Still choosing to stay put, she moved to a sitting position as crouching was beginning to get very tiresome.  Plus, she really didn't want to end up passing out from blood suddenly rushing back to her lower limbs.

"Well...um....You okay? It looked like something wasn't right.....plus.........I was wondering if you might like to help me attack that herd of monsters."

Half-way through she regained a fair bit of her usual confidence and felt a whole lot less wary.  She was fairly certain that Scharden would, purely based on the fact that he was a level one as well, be willing to assist her with the dispatching of at least a few of the herd.

(WORD COUNT: 485)



Scharden Freuden

[Scharden Freuden]

"Well...um....You okay? It looked like something wasn't right.....plus.........I was wondering if you might like to help me attack that herd of monsters."
Shard's left eye twitches underneath his white mask. "So there was someone nearby. Tsk, I thought I was fairly sure that I was alone here. Come to think about it, how long has this girl been watching me. And what exactly did I do while I was asleep."

"What exactly did I do to warrant your concern, Fraulein Amu?"

His attention returns back to studying the Swashbuckler. He smiles to himself as he saw the few moments of hesitation in her speech as well as her cautious posture. Watching her sit down far away enough to stay just out of Shard's rapier thrusting range, "Perhaps I could scare her a bit more."

Shard stands up slowly, as to not startle the Swashbuckler into doing something rash. Once he was fully upright, he also noted that he was more than a foot taller than her, Shard enters his signature bow and he takes off his hat with his left hand. He then tucks his left hand by his stomach and stretches right hand out to the side, Shard bends his body so that his mask faces the ground.

"Either way, it does not matter. Please accept my gratitude for looking out for me while I was sleeping."

Slightly tilting his head up to face Amu, his crimson eyes glinting through the darkness within his mask. Bringing his right hand up front, he quickly goes through the user interface to send a party request out to Amu. Once he finishes, Shard holds out his hand in her field of view so that it looks like he's cupping the invitation in his palm.

“Will you accept, Fraulein Amu?”

(WORD COUNT: 301)
[ Amu Tsukiyomi ]

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

Keeping her face as neutral as possible, Amu observed Scharden's actions with interest and a fair bit of 'what the heck'. Having a guy dressed kind of like the Phantom of the Opera if he wore a full mask, a top hat, and a suit instead of the half-mask and tuxedo-cape thing was definitely not something that usually occurred. "The hell? I mean...that's very nice and classy and all, but..." She had momentarily forgotten that she was sitting and was not really all that bothered by how much the now standing Scharden towered over her; if he was going to harm her, he likely would not have bothered with taking the time to bow or to thank her.

"You're welcome, but I really didn't do anything. All I did was happen on this field and notice someone was laying in the grass. I highly doubt you were in any kind of danger."

The eerie red glint that she saw through the eye holes in his mask really didn't bother her too much, but she would be lying if she said it did not bother her at all. Red eyes were definitely more associated with evil, scary things and the mask only served to make them more unsettling, what with how the darkness behind the mask accentuated the scary-factor. But what bothered her more than the idle eeriness of Scharden's red eyes, was the manner in which he bowed. It seemed too formal to the point of being somewhat suspiciously stiff. Instead of seeming like a gesture intended to fully display gratitude, with a sweeping and more fluid nature to the movements, it seemed too angular and harsh, like the bow was more of a grudging nature meant to hide some form of displeasure.

Finally she raised a single eyebrow to indicate that she was not exactly sure what to make of Scharden's actions. More than anything, they just struck her as unusual and a bit odd. "Perhaps his life before was quite strict. That would definitely explain some of it...but that's not really my place to ask about, especially not of someone I've just met." A sudden ping sound pulled Amu from her mental musings, causing her to look up and see that Scharden was holding a party invite in his hand.

“Will you accept, Fraulein Amu?”

Mildly surprised that her request had been successful without her having to do a whole lot of convincing, she paused for a moment before pulling up the user interface and accepting the invitation. Regardless of the mild uneasy feeling Scharden caused in her, she was unwilling to pass up having someone there to help her slay monsters to level up, especially since she was definitely certain that the uneasy feeling was not due to him being a threat. "Though I suppose I'll have to be careful of the fact he's a Heretic....as I've heard some of the skills they can have don't just damage the foe...but themselves and possibly others as well."

Standing up, she took a moment to stretch out her spine from all of the sneaking and such she had done, as well as to fix her tail. The likelihood she would have chosen Foxtail if she had known what was going to happen was definitely smaller now that she had to learn how to deal with having a tail and fox ears. At least she didn't have paws. That would have made handshakes, her preferred method for greeting a 'business' partner or sealing any agreement not put into writing, extremely awkward. Speaking of which, she stuck out her hand towards Scharden to 'seal the deal' of hunting monsters together.

"So, Mr. Scharden Freuden, shall we get to slaying those oblivious monsters over yonder?"

(WORD COUNT: 708)

Scharden Freuden

[Scharden Freuden]

Shard takes a look at Amu's face as he stood still holding out his hand for her. "She still seems mildly afraid, wary even. But I doubt it was enough, I should stop for now. Or else I might end up losing a new test subject."

His attention returns back to the girl in front of him, Shard watches her hesitate a moment before his heads-up display is updated with a Party Status screen. From the corner of his eye, he watches Amu get up to stretch, and steps back to give her some space. Shard places his hands behind his back and turns his body to look at the Young Pittered Boars down on the field below.

"So, Mr. Scharden Freuden, shall we get to slaying those oblivious monsters over yonder?"

His ears perk and turns his attention back to the Swashblucker, watching her hold out her hand towards himself. Shard eyes flick between Amu's hand and her face, quietly wondering to himself if she was up to something. "Is this some kind of trick...No, she's not like that. Might as well use her to help me hunt."

Shard smiles underneath his mask and firmly shakes the purple haired Fox-tail's hand.

"Ja, we shall. Ladies first, Fraulein Amu. Do you have any preferences regarding to our party formation?"

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

"Ja, we shall. Ladies first, Fraulein Amu. Do you have any preferences regarding to our party formation?"

Pleased at the handshake, especially since it had a firm one and a good firm handshake always told Amu a lot about another person, she pursed her lips at the continued use of 'Fraulein'. Obviously he had some reason for choosing to call her 'Fraulein', though she had no idea as to what that reason was. She had no real issue with the word itself, but she really didn't like being addressed as 'Fraulein Amu'. Not only did it sound extremely weird to be called that, she wasn't too fond of anything like that, not Senorita or Mademoiselle... She would sooner prefer to be called Sir or 'Sir Amu', than '*insert foreign word for Ms. here* Amu'.

"Before we get to that, could you please stop addressing me as 'Fraulein Amu'? I am not particularly fond of being called ....well anything like that. Amu will work just fine."

Having done her best to keep from seeming angry, she then turned her attention back to the question Scharden had asked. Somewhat abesntly staring in the direction of the herd, she mulled it over for a bit. It wasn't as if she really had a plan in particular. Up to the point of having joined together with Scharden, the "plan" had been to wander around until she found an individual foe that would not, hopefully, cause much issue and kill it for the exp. While she figured if somehow a low-level monster managed to kill her, respawning would be a thing, she didn't much like the idea of testing that theory out. While she may have been sucked into the Elder Tales just like a lot of other people had been, she had yet to ask anyone if that particular aspect of MMORPGs still worked the same. ".....most likely it is...but I'd still rather not risk it.....at least not yet anyway. Who knows, I might get tired of this place, go crazy and just 'want to end it all.' I'd definitely find out quickly then."

She was unable to keep from snorting derisively in a rather un-ladylike manner, at the cynical thought. Going crazy was the least likely thing to happen, but then again she really never considered herself to be completely sane either. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with that here...at least not for a while. Maybe after she had gotten herself a place where she could hide from people instead of a room at an inn. Momentarily forgetting that she was around another person at the moment, she rather vigorously shook her head and lightly smacked herself in the temple.

She really needed to stop getting side tracked from the task at hand.

"Hmm, what do you have for weapons? All of mine are meant for close-range melee fighting, and I noticed you had a sword as well....I guess we we could do something like a pincer attack?"

(WORD COUNT: 503)

Scharden Freuden

[Scharden Freuden]

"Before we get to that, could you please stop addressing me as 'Fraulein Amu'? I am not particularly fond of being called ....well anything like that. Amu will work just fine. Hmm, what do you have for weapons? All of mine are meant for close-range melee fighting, and I noticed you had a sword as well....I guess we we could do something like a pincer attack?"

Shard's eyebrow raises underneath his mask as he heard Amu's rather loud snort and a smacking noise followed when the girl slapped her own forehead. “This one’s an odd one, but I can’t say she’s the only one.”  He tries to dismiss it and moves the conversation along.

"Ach, I see. Mein apologies, Amu. If it's all the same to you, you can just call me Shard, since we are dropping honorifics."

Shard reaches behind his back with his left hand to retrieve his Apprentice Grimoire, but decides to keep it where it is. "Maybe she doesn't need to know about it just yet..." Bringing his hand away from the spellbook to pat the rapier that’s sitting snuggly by his left side, Shard's eyes glint again when he returns his attention back to his new test subject.

"A pincer attack does sound like a wunderbar idea. I'll grab the monster's attention and you can come in from side. How does that sound, Amu?"

(Word Count: 230)

[ Amu Tsukiyomi ]

[Amu Tsukiyomi]

"A pincer attack does sound like a wunderbar idea. I'll grab the monster's attention and you can come in from side. How does that sound, Amu?"

A small smile wended its way onto her face at Shard's agreeing to no longer call her 'Fraulein Amu'. It also didn't hurt that she could call Scharden, Schard. She had always preferred short, simple names to long convoluted ones. Especially if you were about to engage in a battle. Shouting "Lord Kinamaleticius" in the midst of a battle would take way too long and be a possibly dangerous distractor.

Flicking her ears absentmindedly as the wind blew past them, she nodded at Schard's suggestion. While she did not really understand why he, a Heretic, would offer to draw the monster's attention and be the aggro, she had no issue with lessening the likelihood that she would be attacked. "If he is going to offer to be the bait, then I am not going to contest it."

Slowly Amu drew a katana from her hip and lightly held it in her right hand. Even though the Swashbuckler class could dual-wield easily, she did not want to do that with this fight as she saw no real point to it. She might not want to go at the herd by herself, but that did not mean she thought they would be particularly hard to fight. Their utter obliviousness to a pair of adventurers talking and arming themselves definitely helped confirm the boar's status as "easy pickings".

"Alright. Then if you're going to draw their attention, I guess it's actually 'Gentlemen first', no? How about that straggler over there, he seems like a decent target."

Not really pausing between her quip and getting down to business, she did not waiting to see what Schard's reaction, instead motioning in the direction of an outlier from the herd. Fairly certain he would agree, she began to quietly move in that general direction, taking care to not get too close or alert the boar in question. Her posture changed as she began to switch into 'battle mode', paying close attention to the surrounding sensory input very carefully.


(WORD COUNT: 360)

Scharden Freuden

[Scharden Freuden]

"Alright. Then if you're going to draw their attention, I guess it's actually 'Gentlemen first', no? How about that straggler over there, he seems like a decent target." 

Shard's eyes narrow as he takes a better look at the boar the Swashbuckler was referring to. While the boar is the farthest from the rest of the herd down in the field, Shard thought to himself, "These boars are supposed to be the type of monster starting players can take down easily with a little planning. And they won't even aggro until they get hit by an enemy."

Shard turns to look back at Amu as he unsheathes the rapier with his right hand, keeping his left hand behind his back, clutching his spellbook, "Very well. Don't lag too far behind."

Without looking back, Shard sprints down the hill towards the target. The grass crunching underneath his feet as he readies his rapier for a piercing thrust. Shard watches the boar busily graze the grass without being aware of the Adventurer aiming to skewer it like a kebab. Once Shard was close enough, he stops and twist his upper body to put in more power into his attack. The point of his sword punches into the boar's rear, causing the creature to jump forward in surprise. In front of the Heretic's eyes, the Young Pitted Boar's health drops and the monster turns around, glaring at Shard with angry eyes. It lets out a loud snort and charges at the Heretic, dead set on impaling the thin man with it's tusks.

(Word Count: )

[ Amu Tsukiyomi ]