Getting Back on the Horse [Pure/Closed]

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

Breathing heavily, Ria fended off a boar’s seeking tusks with one of her swords. She swung her other blade in an attempt to slash at its face, but the blow hardly seemed to do any damage. What she wouldn’t give to have her Taser right about now instead of two shoddy medieval weapons. Okay, maybe she would have been just fine had she not gone up to the boar and smacked it with her sword; after all, it had just been standing around grazing.

Still, she’d figured that fighting something stronger would be the quickest way to level up, but maybe Ria should have rethought that decision. Still, it had seemed so peaceful. Now, however, it had turned into a crazed beast. One that was clearly way stronger than she was. Mentally Ria noted that leaving the Pittered Boars alone until she was much stronger would be a good idea.

That was, of course, if she managed to get through this. While she had been able to keep the boar from landing any major blows, her hit points were already dangerously low. According to other players, death wasn’t permanent, but she didn’t want to test that out firsthand. Ria still did find it odd how her life was expressed by a couple of numbers; it didn’t quite seem real. Still, the fact that the boar was bearing down on her once again certainly was real enough.

Ria stepped back and her foot caught on something. She stumbled, but managed to stay upright. However, in that short moment, the boar had already managed to cover the distance between them. Before Ria could raise her swords to block, the creature had surged forwards rammed one of its tusks straight into her chest, lifting her off the ground.

For a moment, Ria couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened. She was suspended from the ground, staring down into the boar’s beady red eyes. For a moment she didn’t feel anything, then her chest was on fire. She let out a small gurgle, not able to even manage a scream. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Within a few seconds, she blacked out.

***

Cold stone pressed against her back as Ria slowly opened her eyes. The vaulted ceiling high above her came into view. She blinked, unsure of where she was or how she had wound up here. Then, the memories rushed back.

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead and Ria’s hands went to her chest, expecting to find a gaping hole. There was nothing. She forced herself to look down. Her chest was completely intact and the smaller wounds she’d received were gone as well. Ria realized that she was still breathing hard and forced herself to slow down, worried that she might hyperventilate.

Shut up and think, she ordered herself silently. That hadn’t just been a nightmare; if it was then she would probably have woken up in bed. That meant that she had actually, well, died. At least the rumors that people respawned if they died were true. Her death threatened to play on repeat in her mind and Ria realized that she had to get moving unless she wanted to have a panic attack or something. Not that she had ever had one before, but she hadn’t exactly died before either.

She stood, her legs somewhat shaky, and tried to focus on her surroundings. It only took a second before she realized that they were familiar; despite the decrepit state of the building, this was clearly Westminster Abbey. Now that she knew that, Ria knew exactly where she needed to go in order to leave. She wanted to run back to the inn she was staying at, dive under the covers, and never come out again. However, Ria knew that if she did call it a day, she probably wouldn’t be able to ever leave the city in the fear that she might get killed again. It was like falling off a horse; one had to climb right back on. She had to go right back out there and kill a few monsters, though maybe she’d be a bit more careful about what she decided to fight this time.

Her mind made up, Ria stepped forwards, only to freeze. The Abbey’s architecture made each noise echo and she swore that she’d heard footsteps. Before she realized it, her hand had gone to her sword. Ria forced herself to withdraw it; chances were that it wasn’t anything hostile. Fighting the urge to prepare to defend herself, Ria called out “Hello? Anyone there?” Her voice bounced off the stone walls and echoed throughout the otherwise silent church.

Word Count: 776
Notes:
Tags: Pureblade

[pureblade]

Ivan, or as players in the game knew him, Pureblade stood in the old Westminster Abbey. The reason for his being there? Help. Not for himself of course. He always tried to help others, no matter what. Now that he was trapped in this strange new world he found that the opportunities to help others were far greater than they were in the real world. Usually, when not on his own he could be found here. He found that people who respawned often were in need of help to defeat a more powerful foe.

Today though had been a quiet day. Very few players had respawned and those who had, were adamant about not needing his help. So there he stood, waiting for someone who required his assistance. He was heading to the door to leave and grind on his own, when his foxlike ears twitched as he heard the sound of a woman's voice. "Hello? Anyone here?" Her voice sounding frightened as it echoed off the walls of the church.

Ivan turned to see a woman looking much older than himself had called out. He approached the woman and said. "Hi." Smiling. Getting closer he noticed that she looked quiet shaken. His face quickly adopted worried features. "Hey are you alright? He asked as he drew closer to the woman.

---

221 words

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

When she saw the other person in the church, Ria was rather glad that she’d refrained from drawing one of her swords. It was a young-looking kid, probably in his mid-teens, who certainly didn’t look as if he was about to attack her. Of course, appearances could be deceiving. Ria had no way of knowing if the fellow was actually a guy or if he was even close to being the age he appeared. She’d already had a few disconcerting experiences regarding that sort of thing. Not that she technically could blame anyone; even Ria herself didn’t exactly look like she did back home.

Regardless, Ria decided to just go with her instincts which weren’t indicating that the boy was a threat. Besides, as she’d just learned, it wasn’t as if he could kill her even if he wanted to.

“Hello there,” Ria called out, forcing calm into her voice. Strangely enough, now that someone else was here it was much easier to compose herself and adopt her typically confident demeanor. It only took about two seconds before she was reasonably certain that she looked normal again. Clearly he’d seen her in her nervous state though, since he asked if she was all right.
“Huh? Me? I’m perfectly fine. Just taking a look around. Y’know, this church is steepled in history.” Neither the excuse or the pun was any good, but hopefully they would still be able to convince the boy that she was in fact fine. Which, she really was. Perhaps inwardly she was still a bit shaken, but externally she was fully intact. Now that she allowed herself to think about it, that really was something. Of course, it also raised a few interesting questions. Would she ever age? If she did, then would they ever die of old age, or had she somehow become immortal? Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like she was going to be able to find out for a long while.

“So what are you doing here?” she asked the boy, trying to change the subject. Although she wasn’t hurt, Ria had to admit that dying was a bit embarrassing, especially since she hadn’t been killed by anything impressive. Maybe it would have been different if she’d been eaten by a dinosaur or something. However, it would just be awkward to admit that she’d been taken out by one of the creatures that roamed the field, just because she’d been a bit overconfident and hadn’t really paid attention to the fact that a level 1 adventurer shouldn’t go around whacking stronger monsters when they weren’t even aggressive in the first place.

Word Count: 437
Notes:
Tags:

[pureblade]

Ivan watched as the woman's demeanor changed before his very eyes, from one of nervousness to one of complete confidence. "Huh? Me?" She asked, as if she was surprised that Ivan had asked her a question. "I'm perfectly fine. Just taking a look around. Y'know, this church is steepled in history." The young man just chuckled and shook his head in response to such an awful joke. She seemed better than she was moments ago, which he was glad for. "So what are you doing here?" The woman asked, clearly trying to change the subject. Ivan went with it, not wanting to push into her business any further.

"I usually hang out here." He replied nonchalantly. "Nice pun by the way. But anyways, I usually try to help the players that respawn with whatever killed them last. Today, however has been a slow day and I was just about to get going when you showed up actually." He was hoping internally that the woman required some type of help. Ivan never liked going out to grind on his own. It always left him feeling vulnerable, and while he knew he couldn't truly die, it was an experience he never truly wanted to go through.

---

204 Words.

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

Ria’s grin widened as she got a chuckle out of the boy. Most of the time people just gave her a blank stare when she joked around, so she chalked this one up as a success. She was glad that he went with the change of subject and that he didn’t ask her why she was in the church either.

Or maybe he didn’t need to ask. Ria suppressed a wince as he mentioned that he liked hanging around in order to lend a hand to players once they respawned. Since she was here, chances were what had happened to her was painfully obvious. At least it seemed as though she wasn’t the first to get herself killed; that would have been painfully embarrassing.

“Ah well, I don’t really need help with anything,” she said, glancing over at the boy. Judging from his starter gear, Ria guessed that his level was rather close to her own. Chances were that even if both of them tried to take down the boar, they still wouldn’t be successful unless they levelled up a bit first. “I’ve actually got to get going pretty soon though,” she added.

Ria started forwards, then paused. She felt uncomfortable leaving the guy alone in the massive empty church, even if he had come here of his own accord. It seemed a little odd that he didn’t have anyone with him. Although she had decided earlier that morning to strike out on her own, it would be safer for both of them if they chose to go together.

“Hey, I’m not planning to take on anything crazy, but I’m going to head outside town and just train for a bit.” Ria knew that there was some specific term for going out and just hacking through monsters, but it eluded her at the moment. “It will probably be boaring as all get out, but you’re welcome to come along if you like.” That pun hadn’t been half bad, but Ria wasn’t sure if the boy would be able to pick up on it.

“I go by Ria, by the way,” figuring it was past time for introductions.

Word Count: 357
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Tags:

[pureblade]

To Ivan's despair the woman said that she didn't need help and that she was going to be leave soon. She started forwards towards the church's exit, but paused. She seemed to be considering something. "Hey, I'm not planning on taking on anything crazy, but I'm going to head out and just train for a bit." She said. "It'll probably be boaring as all get out, but you're welcome to come along if you like." Ivan took a second before he got the pun and chuckled again as his spirit soared, happy that he wouldn't have to go out on his own.

Ivan smiled and nodded in response. "Sure, doesn't sound too bad." "I go by Ria, by the way." The woman, now known as Ria said. "Nice to meet you, Ria. My in game name is Pureblade, but I tell people that my name is Ivan. Feel free to call me either." He said. Ivan was interested to find out a little bit more about, Ria. So he did it the simplest way he knew. He brought his fingers up and tapped the air in front of her.

The Elder Tale interface sprang to life show her basic stats. Full HP and MP, not a surprise considering she had just respawned. Level 1, Swashbuckler, interesting. "Swashbuckler huh?" He asked as he closed the interface. "That's pretty cool. I'm a Summoner myself. Anyways we can talk while we make our way outside town. We aren't going to get those boar's bacon by just standing here, are we?"

---

257 Words.

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

“No name preference then?” Ria asked. She personally wasn’t used to the fact that most of the adventurers tended to go by the name they’d picked for their avatar. It did make sense in a strange way, as if they were choosing to adopt the identity of their avatar instead of being the same person as they were before this mess started. It also was easier to remember the name that showed up on the Friend’s list. Still, not everyone’s in game name was conducive to everyday use. At least she didn’t personally have a problem seeing as her chosen name was an old nickname that she’d often gone by in the past.

“If you don’t care, I’ll just call you Pureblade,” she decided. Ria figured that she might as well get used to the fact that people overwhelmingly desired to go by their game names instead of their real ones. It would probably just become confusing if she decided to flip between game names and real names depending on the person she was speaking to. At least now that she knew the boy’s real name Ria could be reasonably certain that he was actually a boy.

“And yep, I’m a Swashbuckler,” Ria said as she opened her own menu and clumsily navigated over to her Friend’s list. She still wasn’t used to this whole heads-up display thing that always appeared. It took a bit longer than it should to send a friend request and Ria closed out of the interface as soon as she was finished. Once Pureblade accepted the request, they’d be able to use the telepathy feature, which could come in handy.

After chuckling at the boy’s bacon joke, Ria nodded and said, “Sure thing. There’s no point in standing around here, so we might as well hop to.” She really would appreciate having a bit of bacon, if they could get it. If she remembered correctly, she had a fellow with the chef subclass on her Friend’s list; maybe he would be willing to fry some up for her if she brought it to him. Just the thought made her want to start drooling. It seemed like ages since she’d had a meal that actually tasted like actual food. Of course, she reminded herself, finding bacon was not the point of today’s mission. Not that she would complain if she somehow managed to get her hands on some meat though. However, meat from one of those wild boars probably wouldn’t taste that great.

Realizing that she had become a bit lost in thought, Ria shook her head lightly and started toward the door of the cathedral, motioning Pureblade to follow. Now back on topic, she said, “I’m thinking we should head out to the Windsor Greatwood; there’s plenty of beasties we can take out. As long as we’re careful, it shouldn’t be too dangerous either.” Now that Pureblade was accompanying her, Ria felt a sense of responsibility towards him. If appearances could be believed, he was quite a bit younger than her. She’d prefer it if he didn’t have to go through the dying process; now that she had experienced it herself Ria wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Word Count: 532
Notes: Do you want to call this thread finished after your next post and move to another one in the place where we're going to grind?
Tags:

[pureblade]

Ivan watched as Ria navigated her way through the menu, rather clumsily albeit. Suddenly a little notification popped up in the upper right line of sight. He opened his menu and realized that Ria had sent him a friend request. He quickly, and readily accepted. He was just joking about the bacon but he was kinda hoping that they'd get some. He had never fought a boar before so he wasn't aware of what they'd dropped. The young Fox tail hoped it was bacon. He was getting tired of the things served at the pubs, and if he was honest, he need some form of normalcy back in his life, even if it was something as simple as bacon.

Ivan hadn't been here for very long, but in that time he grew to miss his family greatly. He found that the saying was true, you never really knew what you had until it was gone. The boy shook himself from his thoughts as Ria beckoned to him, as she moved to the doorway of the old church. 'I was the one who suggested we move and here I am getting lost in my thoughts.' Ivan laughed to himself.

"I'm thinking we should head out to the Windsor Greatwood; there's plenty of beasties we can take out. Ria said. "As long as we're careful, it shouldn't be too dangerous either." Ivan nodded. Safe, safe was good. He didn't have to worry about death if he was safe. A shiver ran down his spine just thinking about the possibility of death. Again though he shook the thoughts off and shouted. "Well then what are we waiting for? Lets go!" With that he ran off ahead.

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283 Words