Battle tutorial [Open, 1 slot]

[Haneroze]

Day 1, an hour and half after the player's arrival in Elder Tales.

There were many people already hunting. People that didn't care about the situation and just wanted to kill. People that wanted to level up so that they could help get out of this world as fast as possible. Or people, just like Haneroze, that realized they needed to fetch some money in order to survive.

Haneroze wasn't in hurry to kill. All she needed was 5 gold per meal, which she thought wouldn't be hard to get. Assuming not dropping gold was impossible, she supposed a maximum of 5 monster would be needed to kill.

She searched for a corner without anyone already hunting, while still observing the players fighting. She observed monsters getting killed easily, which relieved her from the fear of death. Not many were using skills, the few she saw were used from the menu. She also heard someone far away shouting a skill's name, thought she couldn't tell if it actually worked.

Eventually, she arrived in front of a slime. There wasn't anyone nearby enough to steal the monster.

"This is my opportunity. Let's test my skills. First, that Scholar skill." she said in her mind.

She opened her menu, browsed toward her skill list, then clicked her Evaluate skill. She then pointed the slime, but then all the menus disappeared. Haneroze looked, surprised.

"Eh? Did I... accidentally cancel the skill? Now that I think, I did see some people behaving strangely with their menu. It's also awkward to use... That person that tried shouting the skill's name... Maybe it will work? But without being able to speak... I guess I'll try thinking hard about it."

Haneroze pointed at the slime with her left hand's index and major. She tried to imagine magical power at the tip of her two fingers.

"EVALUATE!"

She stood there for a second, after which information about the Slime showed up. Dull Green Slime, level 2, no weakness, no skill. As she initially thought, Scholar was useless early on due to monsters having nothing in particular. She lowered her hand.

"Next, my Shaman skill. Damage Interception. If I remember right, it can either be used on a target or on the ground."

Haneroze tried to point herself with the index, the major and the ring, thinking it could help to use a different finger combination. It felt a bit awkward to target self like that, but she went on with it. She imagined magical power being gathered at the tip of her finger again.

"DAMAGE INTERCEPTION!"

She waited three second, but nothing happened.

"Hmm? Let's try again. DAMAGE INTERCEPTION!"

She waited again, but nothing happened. She tried pointing the skies this time, thinking she may need to do something else to target self.

"DAMAGE INTERCEPTION!"

She saw a barrier reflection around her.

"It worked this time! The shield gets weaker over time, so let's not waste any!"

She immediately dashed toward the slime, taking her staff out of her back sheath during the run. Immediately as the slime noticed her, Haneroze bashed it while passing by the sides like the staff was a sword. She tried to stop her run, but as she turned back, the slime threw part of its body as a projectile. Haneroze closed her eyes on reflex, bracing for impact, but she heard it splatter on the shield. She reopened her eyes.

"R-right! Damage Interception! I don't need to be afraid of hits! It hasn't broken yet, don't lose time!"

She dashed again toward the slime, this time thrusting her staff like it was a spear. She saw what appeared to be the slime's health bar drop to around 25%. The slime didn't stagger from the hit and already attempted to bite Haneroze. She tried to give another hit to the slime, and as it connected, she also heard the shield breaking. The slime disappeared.

Haneroze opened her inventory to see how much gold was dropped.

"That's already enough for a meal. Since I'm here, I might as well get as much experience as I can, as long as it doesn't get too dangerous."

Before closing the menu, she looked at her skills to see the cooldown on her two skills. Evaluate had only one second cooldown, while Damage Interception was still on cooldown, about a dozen seconds remaining. She closed the menu.

She walked a bit further, until she saw a boar. Immediately, she pointed it with her index and major with her left hand. "EVALUATE!" Level 3 Young Pittered Boar, with no resistance and skill once again. She lifted her ring finger and raised her hand. "DAMAGE INTERCEPTION!". She waited to confirm it worked, then dashed toward the boar. However, as she got close to the boar, she noticed a person that was also targetting the boar, previously hidden by trees. She immediately stopped running and looked toward that person, waiting to see if he would continue attacking or stop too.

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 100%

MP: 97%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Let's do this, thought the young man hiding in the trees, searching for some prey. This would be his first battle since arriving in Elder Tale's Britain. He decided that he should get his main class level up. So, using his Pathfinder skill, {Battle Perception}, he managed to target a little level 3 Young Pittered Boar.

he slowly stepped from his hiding place and dashed towards the pig, but he hesitated on his left foot for only a second, noticing another Adventurer targeting the swine. He noticed she has stopped and proceeded with his attack.

He led by smoothly drawing his sword and striking his opponent just to start. One attack seemed like it wouldn't be enough with his starter gear, so without wasting a second, his brought the katana with the blade pointed towards the boar back and thrust his arm forward, kicking off with his right foot as well. He pierced his opponent with his blade, getting a clean shot in before pulling the katana back to a ready position. It's not like he was an expert with a sword, Alphonse just watched a lot of anime back in the real world and, apparently, picked up a few moves.

The young boar flinched from his attack, giving Lorde the time to recover his balance and advance. He then let out a battle cry as he swing his sword at his enemy, fiercely attempting to cleave it into two. The swine was now just a pile of loot which Valiar Lorde collected. Feeling a bit worried that he had just stolen that Adventurer's kill, he thought he'd point out a couple of monsters nearby.

"I'm terribly sorry if you were hopping to kill that, but we all need a first kill, aye?" He raised his finger and pointed behind him, "I'm a pathfinder, so I can detect monsters within a larger range than you can. There is a level 3 slime and a level 4 slime down in that direction that I saw whist fighting. Both are Dull Green Slimes. If you walk about ten feet past me, you should detect them too."

He sheathed his sword and looked away for a second, as if pondering something. He examined her equipment. It wasn't like a stare, just a quick up-down with his eyes. He then proceeded to make an offer with the girl after deciding she might need help. "Hey, how about we both take on the slimes? It seems to me like you're of a support class, and there are two of them." He bowed his head slightly, "Oh! Where are my manners. My name is Valiar Lorde, and I would be happy to aid you in the farming of low level monsters, if you'd allow me."

Word Count: 463/463

[Haneroze]

(Be careful about writing too much action! I could have decided to make Haneroze not stand still and join the battle anyway!)


The person didn't stop his attack. It appeared as if he decided to continue because Haneroze stopped. She pretty much had lost her kill. She looked at the person fight, and as she tried concentrating for the moves he did, she saw a window appear near that person. Valiar Lorde, Race: Human, Samurai, and she could see his health and mana bars. There also was a place for Status, but it was empty. However, unlike with Evaluate, she couldn't see anything about this person's resistances, weaknesses and skills. It was probably an interface visible to everyone.

She wondered if she could use Evaluate on other players. She pointed Valiar with her index and major. "EVALUATE!" After a second, additionnal information showed up. She could see all three of Valiar's skills. She noticed a glow over Battle Perception, she guessed it was because it's a toggle skill and it was active.

The battle was already over. There was no point in staying, so Haneroze turned to try finding a new target. But as soon as she turned, the Samurai excused himself to her. She turned back toward him and listened to him talking about the location of some other monsters.

"He's a good person. Most people would normally just move on to their next target."

She bowed to thank him, keeping her staff held down, then moved toward where he pointed. But she was interrupted again, this time he was offering her to party up. She started thinking about it while Valiar continued with his introduction.

"Would it be a good idea to team up? The experience and gold gains would most likely be split aaand... Well, I normally never refuse offers to team up as it's more amusing this way..."

Haneroze noded, then opened the menu, remembering about seeing a Party interface. Using it, she sent a party invitation to the Samurai, then closed her menu. She smiled at him, and walked toward the two slimes without waiting for him to accept.

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 100%

MP: 97%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Lorde nearly forgot about his HUD when the party request popped up in front of his face. He was momentarily startled and then applied pressure to the air, and Lorde was part of Haneroze's party. This was his first time in a party since his last raid on the Japanese servera couple . His mind started to scratch at the thought that maybe this same thing was happening over there.

He decided to think about that later. For now, he needed to level up so he could put his long term plan into action. He'd gotten the idea just moments ago when he offered to party with his fellow adventurer. Think on it later, he thought. Focus, Alphonse!

Ssshhhnk, went his blade as he pulled it from it's sheathe once again. He looked to Haneroze, wishing he had known he would have been stuck in the game. If he had, he could have chosen to use the Monk class. He boxes as a hobby, so it'd be an easier class for him to use. To late for regrets.

Valiar trotted up next to Haneroze and fell in step behind her. "Ladies first. They aren't that strong, so one for the each of us, right? You choose first. Or if you'd like me to aggro like a tank should..."

When they neared the two slimes, he stopped and widened his stance, pointing the tip of his blade at the enemies, his presence intensifying at the though of the imminent engagement of battle, "I'm ready. Take your pick, Ma'am."

Word Count: 262/725

[Haneroze]

Haneroze saw her interface change a bit as Valiar accepted the party invitation. She could now tell Valiar's location and health from wherever she was. That's always something useful for a Support class.

Soon after, she heard her shield shattered. She immediately looked at her cooldowns, to see that the cooldown on Damage Interception was already over.

"So if the target doesn't get any hit, I can refresh the spell as it ends. I suppose it will get even better with the upgraded versions?"

As they walked, the Samurai suggested to split off. Haneroze didn't like that idea as that ruins the purpose of partying. She showed discontentment on her face, but as he was walking behind, she thought he didn't see it. Then as he suggested to aggro like a tank, Haneroze turned her head half-way toward Valiar and noded twice in succession.

As they arrived near the slimes, Valiar gave Haneroze the cue for choosing a target. Haneroze wanted to play safe, so she wanted to start with the lowest level. She pointed the level 3 slime with her left hand's index and major. "EVALUATE!" Nothing different from the previous slime, but she knew she had to frequently use the skill in order to level up her subclass. She then looked toward Valiar, waiting for him to move before casting Damage Interception on him.

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 100%

MP: 91%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

"That one? Aye, I can do that." She doesn't speak much, he though to himself. I won't take offense, she must have her reasons.

Lorde stepped in between Haneroze and the slime, and closed his eyes. Though it was for only a second, a million thoughts rushed through his mind as he tried to focus.

I'm probably going to take hits, that what a tank does. I box all the time, I shouldn't be this nervous. I wonder how my cat's doing -- Just any thought that he could think of ran through his brain all at once, and then were gone. He visibly seemed to relax physically as well as mentally.

He poked the Level 3 Dull Green Slime to rouse it's attention upon himself. To make sure that the slime was focusing on him, he sidestepped 90 degrees relative to the direction the slime is facing and ran it through. He tried to keep an eye on the Level 4 slime as well, not wanting to take any chances and simply hope it won't attack.

"Crappy sword," he complained. Valiar started to not ignore his HUD and touched the air to get to his skills list. He selected his Samurai skill, {Ace Move - Denkosekka}.

An electrifying aura covered Lorde's body as he lowered his stance. He felt his body lighten and loosen; he felt faster. He raised his blade, poised to strike once more.

Word Count: 241/966

[Haneroze]

As Haneroze was getting ready to use her Damage Interception, she saw Valiar step forward and... Focus? She could feel some intensity from him, as if he was about to participate in an epic battle and was preparing mentally for it. Except the battle was just against a low level slime, which struck her as strange.

"Why is he like that? Is there a fear he's trying to fight against? Surely not death, he killed a same-level boar alone and easily..."

That thought made her react a bit late on her spell. She pointed the Samurai with her left hand's index, major and ring. "DAMAGE INTERCEPTION!" She waited for the cast time to finish and saw the shield appear around Valiar. One thing she liked in Shamans is that unlike heals, shields do not normally generate any threat in MMORPGs, greatly reducing the chances of being targeted even if she joins in the offensive.

As soon as the cast was over, Haneroze dashed toward the slime. The slime had already taken two hits from Valiar and was crawling toward him as he was, Haneroze supposed, manually using a skill through the Menu. The slime was getting ready to throw a projectile like the one she fought earlier. But before he could, Haneroze smashed with her staff side-way without stopping to run, interrupting the attack. She immediately turned to see the slime's reaction and side-stepped to regain control of her balance. Visibly, the slime was still targetting Valiar, as it was attempting to throw another projectile toward him.

[Valiar Lorde]

((This post is assuming the slimes are shorter than Valiar Lorde by a foot or two))

HP: 99%

MP: 91%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Due to his ignorance of the more efficient way to use any skills, Valiar did not see the slime prep for it's first attack, nor did he see the second. Lorde hadn't noticed that Haneroze had used her spell on him at that moment, so he thought that if he got hit once, his protection and temporarily upgraded movement speed would be gone.

Utilizing his buffer, he ducked under the projectile like a boxer, fists up and at the ready. As he bent his knees and torso, he turned and leaned slightly to the right, while extending his arm. Then, with absolute perfect form, Lorde jumped forward and swung his arm as he turned his whole body to add extra force to the attack. His form was beautiful and it would have been a killing hit...

If the slime were a bit taller. Yes, his missed. He's used to fighting people his height.

The slime attempted a bite, but Haneroze's shield protected him. His finishing attack was in poor form. It was a messy and frantic swipe to the slimes little slime face. The Dull Green Slime burst into bubbles and loot.

He knocked his knuckles against his head three times. He needed to focus more. His instincts kicked in and he could have himself hit. Not that it would matter, his being of a warrior class and all. I'm not in the ring, I'm using a sword. Too late for regrets.

He looked to Haneroze. "Thank you, and sorry. I'm a boxer, and the wieght class thing... Usually fighting people my size. Blegh-- So on to the next one!" he declared awkwardly.

The Level 4 Dull Green Slime had moved a couple feet closer, but it hadn't targeted either of them yet. It was the tanks job to make sure to be targeted, so he took the lead.

Word Count: 316/1282

[Haneroze]

Haneroze saw that the remaining health of the slime was low. One more attack and it would finish it. And Valiar was ready for it.

"Nothing more I can do for this fight."

She walked a bit closer, in case he would somehow fail to deliver the last strike. She watched as Valiar dodged the projectile and dash into doing a powerful-looking attack. Except it missed.

"He got some skills, but... Why did he miss?"

It still wasn't a cue to attack, as the Samurai was still in range. And he did finish the slime right after her shield took a hit.

"At least, the shield served for something."

Valiar looked toward Haneroze, thanked her and explained his mistake. She smiled at the thank.

"That's what a Shaman is for, preventing damage! ... So that explains why he missed that way."

She noded as he said to go on the next one. It was already in range, so she immediately pointed it with her left hand's index and major. "EVALUATE!" Nothing new, as expected. She immediately joined Valiar, staying right behind and a bit to his left, so that she was ready to attack once he had taken the aggro.

"Damage Interception should be finished after either 5 seconds or the next hit taken. After this, the skill will still be on cooldown. I'll have to be a bit more careful this time."

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 99%

MP: 91%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Lorde glanced back at Haneroze as if to confirm that she was following him. Then his eyes went towards his next opponent. He sped up as he came up on the slimes right side. He stuck his katana out to his left and stayed low in order to get this attack to hit.



As he ran towards the slime, his mind sped up as his surrounding seemed to slow down. Lower-left back, he thought to himself. He held onto his weapon with his right hand as his left hand wandered behind him. He felt his sword entering the slime's body as he slid his dagger out from behind him, wielding it in a reversed grip. He dug the knife deep into the slime's... slime just as his sword entered, next he rotated his whole body to his right as he pushed forward with his right leg, forcing his two blades through the slime.



A strong attack with two weapons, but no dice, The slime still had a little bit of hp left. Lorde figured it must be because of his class being debuffed by using two weapons.



Time seemed to go back to normal as he realized he overshot his push a little bit and slid past the slime, digging his dagger into the ground to gain back his balance.



He stood back up and sheathed his dagger before taking a quick peak at his HUD. He noticed that his two buffers were pretty much depleted. he kept his eyes on the slime as it seemed to be preparing for one of those projectile attacks. He disrupted it with a quick slash and backed off



He looked to Haneroze and made the classic 'finish it' signal, sliding his thumb across his neck and motioning towards the slime. He knew that the slime wouldn't look away any time soon, and it would take but a whack or two from the maiden's staff to finish the beast. Besides, he felt bad for hogging all the fun.

Word Count: 339/1621

[Haneroze]

Haneroze observed as Valiar slashed through the slime. She was looking for the opportunity to strike, as attacking at the same time could be dangerous. But at the same time, she was amazed by those moves.

"Wow! That was impressive! Is that his moves as a boxer?"

As soon as Valiar moved his hand for the Finish it signal, Haneroze dashed to the slime without waiting for him to finish the signal. She had already understood what he wanted to say, and this appeared as her opportunity to attack anyway.

Before he could attempt his next attack, Haneroze bashed on the slime in a diagonal downward left swing with her staff, then swang back to the right. The slime's HP bar dropped to 0 and it burst into bubbles. She regained her natural stance, without watching anything. She heard her Damage Interception on the Samurai break a second later.

"But I've never liked boxing... Simply punching and defending, in a small ring where the only goal is to hurt the opponent... It's painful to watch."

She looked toward Valiar.

"I'd like to tell him that he can use his skill by concentrating, but..." She looked away for a moment, looking slightly troubled. "How could I explain it to him? And has he realized I can't speak?"

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 99%

MP: 91%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Valiar stood there and looked at his katana for a second. I have to master a whole new fighting style to survive here, he thought, at first disappointed. Then he though, with more delight, this should be fun.



Lorde slid his sword into its scabbard. At first he thought about incorporating his boxing style into the way he fought, like he had done so earlier. He threw a quick one-two in the air. He was a southpaw boxer, which meant he lead with his right hand. Usually Southpaw boxers are used by left-handed people, as their lefts were dominant and usually stronger than their rights. Alphonse Nite developed a pretty unorthodox style, configuring the southpaw style to fit his needs. Even though he never went pro, he still got some recognition from his community for it, but that not relevant now.


He sighed and stretch his arms, excited with his idea and impatient to practice his new style, before noticing that Haneroze looked a bit troubled.



What's wrong with her? Does she not feel well? Did I disappoint her with my fighting? Why the heck don't I just ask? Because she doesn't talk. I'm going to ask anyway, she could just be shy for all I know.



"Oi," He said to get her attention. Lorde took a couple steps towards her and rested his hand on his sword, as if it were the arm of a chair. "You okay? You seem a little down."

Word Count: 248/1869

[Haneroze]

Haneroze was slightly startled as Valiar called for her.

"Has he realized it?"

But the man asked if she was doing fine instead. "I guess he didn't." He followed by making the notice that she appeared to be a little down. She answered by flailing her head left and right.

"That's not it! That's not it!" She lowered her head. "What should I do? I normally always have Dimitri or another acquaintance to tell others I am mute... I need to stop relying on others for that... I should try to tell him!"

She raised back her head. She opened her mouth and pointed it with her left hand, then closed it, waved her head left and right and formed an X with her two arms.

"Please understand!"

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 99%

MP: 93%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Lorde tried to process what was being said by her movements, and it showed on his face. He had a blank stare across his face as his slowly leaned in closer to Haneroze, as if inspecting her. Suddenly his back straightened as he thought he figured it out.

"So, it's not that you don't talk, it's that you can't talk. Am I assuming correctly? Nevertheless, you're not talking, so it doesn't necessarily matter which."

He took a knuckle to his chin and thought of a way she could communicate. He didn't know any sign language, so even if she did, he wouldn't be able to understand. Understand... She can understand me! That means she can think in a language.

"I've got an idea," He declared, hovering his hand in the air. He put his finger to the status bar above Haneroze and moved it into his friend's list before explaining, "We can communicate through telepathy if we need to if we're on each other's friends list, aye?"

Word Count: 170/2039

[Haneroze]

The man didn't seem to immediately understand. Haneroze thought it didn't work. But then, Valiar regained his posture and spoked out his understandings. She noded to confirm he was right. "He understood!" But the remark he said right after irritated her.

"That's a mean thing to say!"

She turned away, unsure if she should try to teach him to use skills without the menu. Then, the samurai said he had an idea. She turned back toward him, curious about that idea.

"What's this idea about?"

She watched as Valiar was going through his menus. Then, Haneroze saw a friend request appear. The man explained his idea about telepathy, and this made Haneroze smile.

"Oooh, telepathy? Like whispering in MMORPGs? That's a good idea, it's worth trying!"

She accepted the request, opened her menu to the Friend window and searched for the telepathy option. She found it near Valiar's name in the list of friend, then clicked it. She could see it was active as the Telepathy icon was glowing, but no text box or anything similar appeared.

"Nothing to input text? Then, as the name implies, it must work with thoughts!" She looked back up toward Valiar. "How is it? Does it work? Can you hear me?"

But nothing was sent. Telepathy didn't work like that. She waited for Valiar's response.


(In case you don't know, Telepathy works by speaking the words. The sound is sent to the listener instead of spoken aloud)

[Valiar Lorde]

HP: 99%

MP: 95%

Armor: {Starter Plate Armour} | Left Hand: {Starter Dagger} | Right Hand: {Starter Katana}

Lorde turned to his right and raised a finger to his ear. He stared off into space as he listened to nothing. His eyes shifted and set upon Haneroze. Still nothing. She can't be thinking nothing. Maybe Telepathy's just a silent call. He lowered his hand and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't work. It seems 'telepathy' is a bit of, uh, 'false advertisement,' I guess."

Out of ideas, he shook his head and shrugged.

"I can't help you with the mute thing, I'm sorry. If you know sign language, you might be able to find a translator, or you could carry around paper and a pen everywhere you go. That's all I've come up with. I should be moving on though."

He thought about what to do next. He could head back to London and bank his findings and maybe work on smithing. No, he was still a bit off with his fighting.

"Sorry to fight and run, but my mind's all jumbled. I have stuff to do, thinks to think about, plans to prepare for, et cetera."

Valiar started to turn, but stopped half-way. "Oh, and another thing: be careful. It seems as though Adventurers are invincible, but try not to get killed. It's more paranoia than a warning though. The way I see it, death is death."

After his ominous statement, he didn't wait for a reply, for he knew he wouldn't get one. He finished his turn and walked away in the direction of London. As he walked, his hand moved about the air.

Valiar has left the party.

Word Count: 271/2310

-Exit Thread-

[Haneroze]

Valiar did not seem to react. Just like she was waiting for his response, he was also waiting to hear something. It was a failure. The man confirmed it a moment later. She pressed again the telepathy button to unactivate it.

"No good... But it was still worth trying."

He emitted ideas about ways to confey her thoughts. But she already knew about those. They're methods she's been using in real life. She sighed and looked around, to see if any monster was available to fight. One had just spawned, a boar, but a player immediately targetted it. Too bad.

Valiar said he was leaving. Haneroze turned back toward him to listen to his farewell words. He added things about adventurers being invincible before moving out.

"Adventurers? Ah, I think I've read it in the Lore. The players were Adventurers and the NPCs were... People of the Land, if I remember right. Players don't often read the Lore, but NPCs are the Lore. In this world where we're strangers, if NPCs are real and not just following lines of code, I think it would be best to adapt ourself to the Lore. Especially if we're stuck here for long."

She looked toward the person fighting the Boar that had spawned.

"So someone has already gotten himself killed? Did he overdo it fighting these monsters? Did he head too far to fight high level monsters? Or did a PK happen already? If PKing is possible, that means we better be careful when out there. And avoid being too low level too."

She opened her menu and looked at the amount of gold she had. She would be good for at least a week worth of meal.

"I think I'll stop for today too. I'll try getting more information about this world. And hopefully find a notepad to write on, I hope such thing exists."

She closed her menu and headed toward London too.